Re: Fear and Trembling - Left handedness
Catherine Marie (tangerineness@hotmail.com)
Fri, 26 Nov 1999 21:48:38 -0800 (PST)
>Nonono ... the left hand isn't "evil" in the Bible (at least exclusively),
I was probably wrong. But I believe over time people came to (to some
degree) interpret the Bible this way, and in Early Christian art it was used
that symbolically. (Who would've thought the one class that really seems to
come in handy would be art history?)
>it's also used in the sense of "secondary." Yes, the goats go to the left
>and the sheep to the right, but at the same time the Number 2 and 3
>positions
>(in a heirarchy) were also signified by the "right and left hand."
>
>At any rate, you really do have a workable thesis here because the
>distinctions between "right and left hand" are pretty deeply embedded into
>western culture, at least.
When you really start thinking about it, the amount we use "right" and
"left" in terms like, "out in left field", or "right hand man", or such,
it's amazing we don't realize it. But there is also the belief that
left-handed people are more creative, and artistic and such. (But I won't
start with my "all the good people are lefties" thing here, since I kinda
got over that stage ;) )
>It would be interesting to see how Salinger used
>this.
Salinger seems to use it a lot. Just read Franny and Zooey or Raise High The
Roofbeams, Carpenters, or most of Nine Stories, and refrences to left and
right are everywhere. In Catcher, his brother Allie was left-handed.
>I'd explain the phenomena as being the product of the majority of people
>being right handed and little else.
>
>Jim
Granted, that is obviously the root of it all, but just the extent of it,
and the way people use it is incredibly interesting. By the way, I'm
wondering, are there many left-handed people on this list?
Catherine
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