Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Bronze Bow, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love vs. Vengeance
Trust, Dependence, and Friendship
Leadership: Power vs. Service
Earthly Hopes vs. Heavenly Values
Summary
Analysis
Daniel realizes he has undone months of progress. Leah sits all day, idle, depressed, and fearful. He does all the housework and shows greater gentleness and patience than he’s ever shown anyone before. But he fears Leah is completely demon-possessed now.
Daniel’s anger and prohibition of seeing Marcus causes Leah to regress. To his credit, he treats her kindly, but he fears she won’t recover from this heartbreak.
Themes
At some point, Daniel timidly begins to place his hope in Jesus. He’s heard that Jesus can cast out terrible, violent demons; can he cast out silent ones, too? Having declined to follow Jesus, he hesitates to ask Jesus for anything. He also blames himself for Leah’s decline. Yet he remembers Jesus’s kindness and the way Jesus removed Daniel’s guilt when he spoke of Samson. One day, after work, he goes to Capernaum.
Jesus seems to be the only hope for Leah’s healing. Jesus has already shown himself to be a trustworthy confidant. Out of love for his sister, Daniel is willing to set aside his pride and seek help.
Themes
A man directs Daniel to the opposite side of the lake, where he finds a massive crowd of people, pushing and shoving. He makes out an indistinct chant. Eventually he figures out that they’re saying, “Hosanna! Blessed be He that cometh!” Daniel is overjoyed, thinking this means that Jesus must have declared himself the messiah. He asks a man what Jesus said. The man says Jesus did something better than talking—he fed them. Daniel notices that the hillside is littered with crusts of bread.
The people’s acclamation of Jesus (“Hosanna!”) is described in several of the gospels. They openly celebrate Jesus as the messiah who has come to rescue Israel and restore its freedom. This outcry occurred not because Jesus declared himself their leader, but because Jesus miraculously fed the massive crowds. The people conclude that Jesus will grant them earthly liberation.
Themes
Eventually, Daniel finds Simon in the crowd. Simon tells Daniel that Jesus has retreated into the hills with a few of his closest disciples. Nobody is to follow him. Disappointed, Daniel asks Simon why Jesus would do this—surely the people would have given him a crown. Simon doesn’t know—but he is sure that Jesus is the Messiah. He has given up hope that Jesus will lead the Jews against Rome. Daniel’s lingering doubt is confirmed, and he feels crushed by the bitter blow. What could Jesus offer that’s better than freedom?
Though the people are ready to proclaim Jesus as their leader, Jesus appears to reject this honor. He even flees from it. Daniel can’t understand. This is completely opposite from the way a leader is supposed to act, he thinks. A leader welcomes recognition and earthly honors. Simon isn’t deterred by Jesus’s withdrawal, but Daniel is troubled even more. Jesus doesn’t fit in a category he can understand.
Themes
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Simon says that Daniel will not understand this, but that Jesus gives his followers the kingdom of God. Even if the world has not changed, it will someday. And in the meantime, even the lowliest people are promised God’s care. He is a shepherd to the poor and ignorant, and he teaches that if the soul is not chained by fear or hate, then a person is free. Of course the Romans are still frightening. But Jesus isn’t afraid—and, even without understanding the future, Simon has chosen Jesus. Jesus’s promise is enough for him. Daniel will not listen further. He is tired of words. He wanted a leader who would do something. But now he knows he is alone, with only his hatred and his vow.
Simon tries to explain Jesus’s way to Daniel. To Jesus’s followers, the kingdom of God isn’t dependent on concrete realities. That doesn’t mean the kingdom won’t arrive in an earthly sense someday. It does mean that nobody must wait for that kingdom’s arrival in order to enjoy its blessings—even, or especially, those who are weakest. This way of thinking is completely alien to Daniel, and he doesn’t trust it. At this point, he thinks Jesus is just another leader who makes big promises he can’t deliver.
Themes
