Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Fear and Trembling, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Belief vs. Doubt
Faith and the Absurd
Infinite Resignation
The Unintelligibility of Faith
Summary
Analysis
Johannes tells the story of a man who had learned about and loved the biblical story of how God tested Abraham. As the man grew older, he became more and more interested in the story, but he also understood it less and less. What the man wanted above everything was to witness the actual events in the story because his adult thoughts about it were so varied and complicated. Johannes says that if the man had been able to read Hebrew, then maybe it would have been easier for him to understand the story.
The man in this story begins with simply loving the story of Abraham, but over time he becomes confused by it. This highlights how as people get older and start thinking more deeply, faith (Abraham’s primary motive in all of his actions) becomes increasingly unintelligible. In the story, Johannes illustrates how people tend to complicate faith by thinking about it, which is also why he’ll later state that faith actually starts where thinking stops.
Themes
In the story, God commands Abraham to take Isaac to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him there. So, Abraham wakes up early one morning and goes off into the desert with Isaac. As they get closer to Mount Moriah, Abraham gently indicates to Isaac what is going to happen. Confused, Isaac begs Abraham to explain, but to no avail. When they reach the top of the mountain, Abraham suddenly turns on Isaac with a terrifying look on his face and tells Isaac that he wants to do this for himself, not because God commanded it. Isaac cries out that God will be his father. Abraham mutters under his breath that it’s better for Isaac to think he’s a monster than to lose faith in God.
The man at the beginning of the story considers four alternative scenarios in Abraham and Isaac’s story. In this scenario, Abraham decides to try and make Isaac hate him so he won’t blame God, which is notable because it indicates that Isaac might not have the same amount of faith in God as Abraham. If Isaac did have that same faith, Abraham wouldn’t have needed to lie about why he was sacrificing Isaac.
Themes
Johannes writes that a mother who is weaning her baby “blackens her breast” so the baby will think the breasts have changed while the mother herself is the same. This mother is lucky that she doesn’t have to do any worse to wean the baby.
In this analogy, the mother appears to obscure the baby’s source of nourishment (Abraham), but makes sure the mother (God) remains the same. This way the baby’s anger is directed at the source of nourishment for disappearing, but not the mother herself.
Themes
In another version, Abraham and Isaac leave Sarah early in the morning. The two ride their donkeys to Mount Moriah in silence. Abraham ties Isaac up and prepares to sacrifice him but catches sight of the ram just in time. The father and son sacrifice the ram and return home together. However, from that day forward Abraham is unhappy because he can’t forget that God asked him to sacrifice Isaac.
In this version, Abraham actually loses his faith and becomes angry at God for asking him to make such a tremendous sacrifice—something he had to agonize over for days as they traveled to Mount Moriah—just to intervene at the last moment. To Abraham, it seems like God has trifled with him and hurt him needlessly.
Themes
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Johannes writes that when the baby is old enough to be weaned, the mother covers her breast entirely, and the child believes he or she no longer has a mother. However, the baby is lucky that they didn’t lose their mother in any other way.
In this analogy, the baby only loses the mother’s breasts, not the mother herself. However, in Isaac’s case, although he still has his father physically with him, Abraham is fundamentally changed because of his anger at God. Unfortunately for Isaac, he’s lost his father in a much darker way than the baby in the analogy lost their mother.
Themes
In a third version, Abraham wakes up early to go to Mount Moriah, but he sees Sarah kiss Isaac before he goes. Abraham thinks about Hagar and the son he drove away into the desert while he travels to Mount Moriah alone. When Abraham gets to the top of the mountain, he throws himself on the ground and begs God’s forgiveness for having been willing to sacrifice Isaac—a father’s primary duty, after all, is to love and care for his son. Abraham believes it was the greatest sin of all to consider sacrificing Isaac.
In this scenario, even though Abraham was only willing to sacrifice Isaac because God directly asked him to, he feels like he’s committed a major sin by being willing to do it. This is because Abraham, and many other fathers, believe that their primary and most sacred duty is to love and protect their children. So, Abraham feels like he’s failed some sort of test by being willing to sacrifice his beloved son.
Themes
Johannes writes that when a mother weans her baby, she becomes sad because she and her baby are growing apart. However, she and her baby experience this sorrow together, and she is lucky that she’s been able to keep her baby so close.
This analogy highlights the close connection between a parent and their child. Like the mother and baby, Abraham and Isaac will be able to work through life’s trials together because Abraham did not violate his sacred duty to protect Isaac, even from himself.
Themes
In a fourth version, Abraham and Isaac arrive at Mount Moriah together, and Abraham faithfully prepares to sacrifice Isaac. However, just before Abraham pulls the knife out, Isaac sees him clench his fist and shudder in anguish before raising the knife. The two go back home together, but Isaac has lost his faith—he never tells Abraham about this, nor does Abraham suspect anything is amiss.
In the final scenario the man thinks of, it’s actually Isaac that loses his faith and becomes angry. Seeing Abraham waver in his faith by betraying a sign of anguish left Isaac confused and hurt in much the same way Abraham felt confused and hurt in the second scenario.
Themes
Johannes writes that when the mother is prepared to wean her baby, she keeps solid food close by so the baby won’t starve to death. The mother is lucky that she has more food to offer the baby.
In this analogy, the solid food represents faith. At the end of the fourth scenario, Isaac is spiritually starving but Abraham doesn’t know, and so he can’t provide nourishment. Unfortunately, that means Abraham is not as lucky as the mother in the analogy.
Themes
The man who loves the story of Abraham considers all four of these possibilities but still doesn’t understand Abraham, even though he was truly a great man.
Because the man himself doesn’t really have faith, he can’t understand Abraham, who embodies pure faith in God.
Themes
