Jacob’s Ladder Characters

Jacob's Ladder

Notes and Main Characters

Jacob's Ladder - Grandson of Abraham and heir to the blessings of God as promised to the children of Israel (Genesis 21:12).

Esau loved pleasure and sport. Jacob, his twin brother, born a moment later, loved the Abrahamic Promise, and counted all earthly possessions as nothing in comparison to the gaining of that prize. Both men were hungry one day; Jacob had prepared himself a feast, but instead of giving one half to his brother, he offered him the whole of it in exchange for his inheritance in the Promise made to Abraham. Esau gladly accepted, esteeming the food more precious than a promise which seemed likely never to be fulfilled.--`Genesis 25:31-34`.
Jacob's mother, knowing Esau's lack of character, concluded that Jacob, having purchased the birthright, might properly impersonate Esau and obtain the blessing. She knew that it would mean to him loss of home and risk of life. Fleeing from home Jacob lay down at night by the way, and had the dream of a ladder reaching from his headstone clear up to Heaven, with angels ascending and descending. The dream represented the fulfilment of the Abrahamic Covenant, in which Jacob was deeply interested, the reestablishment of peace and fellowship between Heaven and Earth.

Jacob Singer - Protagonist of Jacob's Ladder. Moves between scenes of 1) Life as postman with lover Jezebel, 2) Dying in Vietnam, 3) Scenes with family - ex-wife Sarah and son Gabe (deceased), and 4) flashes into the underworld of demons.

Jezebel - Current Lover

Sarah - Ex-wife

Gabriel - Deceased Son

Louie - Chiropractor

The Storied Self: Religion, Love, and Death

Different kinds of love: sexual/romantic; familial; spiritual/religious

Different kinds of death: ego-death, physical death, spiritual/religious death

Different kinds of spirituality/religion:

Classical Christian (Augustinian): sin -> confession -> faith -> redemption
Religion of repression and the eruption of the unconscious (Freud)
Integration of the Unconscious (Jung): positive view of unconscious as a source of spiritual healing
Taoist vision: Continual transformation that questions the solidity of any particular, finite self-identity (butterfly episode)
Buddhist vision: Director's Notes: Bardo: Intermediary state between life and death before entering the clear light

The intertwining of themes of religion, love, and death in the storied self of Jacob's Ladder: multiple permutations

Jacob's Ladder - Study Questions and Biblical References

Study Questions

1) Which of the three (or four) realities is the real reality?

2) What is the relation between the three realities?

3) What are the differing facets of Religion, Love, and Death in Jacob's Ladder?