After reading The Enduring Ark, a children’s book that gives the story of Noah’s ark “a Southeast Asian twist,” Marjorie Ingall considers the tale’s universal appeal:
Is it really surprising that the story works in a Bengali context? Every culture is drawn to flood stories. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Baha’i all share the Noah story proper, and epics about floods in general appear in a zillion other traditions, including Indian ones … and don’t get me started on Gilgamesh, Greek mythology, or Mayan and Muisca lore. Adults of all cultures thrill to the evidence of the terrifying power of nature. We want to think we’re in charge, all-powerful beings. Natural disasters are quick to show us we’re not.
Why the myth feels as relevant as ever:
The Noah story seems particularly potent today, since we seem to be entering a new time of environmental destruction. It seems we’ve broken our part of the covenant with God to be caretakers of the earth. Kids hear about hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis so often these days, events that seem to have far more crippling force than they did when we were kids. When I read The Enduring Ark, I couldn’t help thinking of Hurricane Sandy, which caused huge flood damage and suffering in our city and in our own neighborhood. The destruction was an opportunity for tikkun olam—we made sandwiches for homeless shelters, dragged a wagon full of blankets and food to a church, helped Maxie’s school fund-raise for the victims. The way to feel less powerless is to be a helper, and that’s a wonderful message for children.
(“Matsya protecting the Manu and the seven sages at the time of Deluge,” a portrayal of an Indian iteration of the Flood myth, via Wikimedia Commons)
The Dish 
