Religious Symbols:
The Vaark Estate and the Plagues of Egypt
The ill fortunes that the befall the Vaark Estate share striking similarities to the misfortunes of those that fell upon Biblical Egypt as both places are met with the devastation of their yield, the death of the eldest child, and the festering sores upon their skin. To further drive this point home, both powers had built their fortune and fame on the backs of the slave labor and both would find them losing their prestige to the hands of an oppressed people. The Vaarks are forced to deal with the consequences of their actions for all of their spoils are rotten and their misfortune seems to come from the wrath of God as they have not repented or freed their slaves.
o The Death of a Firstborn
“Then watched Patrician, her firstborn, who reached the age of five and provided a happiness Rebekka could not believe, lie in her arms for two days before dying from a broken crown” (Morrison 75).
“Moses said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, 5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well.” (New American Standard Bible, Exodus. 11.4-5)