The True Story

The majority of my education consisted within the walls of a catholic school. I can remember being told the stories of Joseph being sold by his brothers, Noah and the ark, and Adam and Eve eating from the tree of good and evil. Being told these stories, I didn’t really put much attention to the other stories or to the fact that not many of the adults in my life wanted to talk about the darker stories.
In reading Crumb’s version of the book of Genesis, I was taken aback by how little I truly knew of the ancestors of my religion. It seems that the dark stories never came to the surface often enough, and I feel as if R. Crumb was able to reveal the whole story, both good and bad.

Furthermore, I can’t say whether or not Crumb’s illustrations change the stories in Genesis because, honestly, I feel as if didn’t really hear all of the stories growing up. However, it does change the way I perceive the book of Genesis entirely. It changes the good children of God and the sweet, gentle, loving God I had thought I knew from the Old Testament growing up.

I, without a doubt, feel that his illustrations provide a more truthful adaptation of the Genesis than I have ever known. I feel as if they provide a clearer picture into who the early people were and how they lived their lives, no bias included.
The only liberties I can claim that he has taken is his depictions of voluptuous women and a consistently anger God. However, if one looks at the story of the Genesis, God the majority of the time is an angry, testy being. As for the voluptuous women, I feel as if that is but a tiny detail.
Although Crumb’s work may have been viewed as heresy in the past, I believe many of us today would agree that it is not. The reasoning behind this is the ability of a society’s views to adapt and change with the times. I feel that Crumb’s depictions are not considered as vulgar and inappropriate as they were in the past because society today, honestly, is more open to the truth than in the past. I think the people of today want to know, see, and hear the darker stories because we are now more accepting of the idea that the world is not perfect and there is no such thing as a perfect human being.
Moreover, concerning the sexuality depicted in Crumb’s illustrations, I feel as if, today, sexuality is not considered the sacred thing it used to be. Furthermore, I believe that much of society does not find anything wrong with Crumb’s depictions because much of society does not deem it as worthy of respect and secrecy as it did in the past.

I believe that R. Crumb’s adaptation of the book of Genesis was in a way ironic because it contradicted most of what I was taught about the book of Genesis. Growing up, not even in high school, was I ever told of the murders, the incest, the conniving wives and mothers, and the rape that made up the majority of the book of Genesis. However, in terms of Crumb reaching his goal of treating the story of the book of Genesis with care, no humor or irony involved, I believe he reached his goal. I feel as if he depicted every line perfectly; thus, allowing many to understand the book of Genesis more easily. He took the words and literally drew them out, no additions, no vulgarity, and no disrespect towards Christianity.