Barabbas (novel)

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Barabbas is a novella by Pär Lagerkvist from 1950. Lagerkvist was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1951 for his life's work .

action

In ancient Jerusalem , the Roman governor Pontius Pilate has to decide whom to pardon for the Passover festival - Jesus of Nazareth , who is worshiped by many as the Messiah, or the murderer Barabbas . He lets the people decide which will vote for Barabbas.

This initially enjoys his unexpected freedom to the fullest. However, his acquaintances behave strangely towards him because Jesus was crucified instead of him. Initially still undeterred, Barabbas wants to prove that Jesus was a normal person. However, he finds the tomb of Jesus empty and as a witness from the first hour comes into the focus of the disciples , where he describes what he has experienced, among other things, to Lazarus .

His lover Rahel, a staunch Christian, is later arrested and stoned by the Romans. The enraged Barabbas ambushes the men who arrested Rahel and kills one of them. He is sentenced to hostile work in a copper mine. There Barabbas is chained to the convict Sahek, a devout Armenian Christian. Barabbas helps Sahek pray, but cannot move himself to believe. With the help of a guard, the two manage to be pardoned from the work in the pit, but have to do heavy work in a mill. There their Christian faith is eyed by the Roman rulers. While Sahek dies a martyr's death for his faith , Barabbas saves himself by betraying his Christian faith and Sahek.

In the course of the further persecution of Christians by Nero , arson broke out in Rome, which one tried to blame the Christians on. When Barabbas sees this, he begins to participate in the arson in the delusional imagination to do something good for the Christians. In prison with other Christians, he causes further displeasure, as he has not only pretended to be a staunch Christian and at the same time an arsonist, but his fellow prisoners also learn that he is Barabbas of Golgotha. Ultimately, he is crucified because of his apparent Christian religion.

filming

The novel was made into a film by Richard Fleischer in 1961 with the same title . Anthony Quinn played the role of Barabbas.

literature

  • Pär Lagerkvist : Barabbas. A novel (OT: Barabbas ). Nobel Prize for Literature, No. 46 = 1951. With a letter from André Gide and the bibliography PF Lagerkvist. Coron-Verlag, Zurich 1969.