Hatrack River Forum: Alvin as Christ

This is topic Alvin as Christ in forum Discussions About Orson Scott Card at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by daver (Member # 8435) on :

this is not meant to be blasphemous, but....
Alvin walks on water, heals the sick, brings 'near' dead back to life....these plus more...any thoughts!

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

Alvin is not Christ. Alvin is Joseph Smith. [Smile]

But you get points for being close.

Posted by Blackthorne (Member # 8295) on :

He actually makes an ice bridge (like the lds pioneers crossing the Mississippi).

Posted by RoyHobbs (Member # 7594) on :

I want the next book in the series!!

Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :

alvin isn't Joseph Smith, either. Joseph Smith never walked on water or any of the miraculous things Alvin does. Alvin's life has the structure of JS's life as its skeleton, but if JS had actually done the things Alvin did, then either people would have believed in him more or he would have been killed sooner <wince>.

My point, if there is one, in the stories is that Alvin can do these miraculous things, but they're just a drop in the bucket. To combat the Unmaker, it takes more than a few miracles. It takes the creation of a community - otherwise the unmaker unmakes faster than a maker can make.

Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :

I'm going to refer my mom to that post, Uncle O. I just got her to read Seventh Son, (she's of the more conservative LDS bent) and while she liked it and picked up on the Joseph Smith parallels, she was a little afraid of the "blasphemy" inherent in doing things to the Alvin character that are not consistent with the life of the prophet. I tried to explain it, but your description will be much more effective. [Smile]

Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :

And, if you don't mind me asking, what was the impetus for creating a character on the "skeleton" of a famous religious figure's life without resorting to allegory? Were you influenced by any other work that way, or was that an original idea?

Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :

I was drawn to this thread because I had this thought last week. The main way Alvin is like the Lord is that he has a little brother who is also very powerful who has no compunctions about using his powers to benefit himself.