A Voice in the Wind

Hadassah is both the protagonist and the mouthpiece of the novel’s Christian rhetoric. Sold into enslavement after the destruction of Jerusalem, Hadassah displays an almost preternatural tolerance for Julia’s childish and petulant demands. She accepts these demands with grace and humility, even being willing to sacrifice her own life for a woman who treats her like chattel. She accepts her fate both out of fear of reprisal as well as a certainty that she is part of God’s larger plan. As much as she berates herself for her cowardice, she finds her courage when she needs it, especially when called upon to testify about her faith. She tells Marcus, Decimus, and Phoebe about the “truth” of her God over all others, and she refuses to be cowed by Marcus’s skeptical arguments to the contrary. If Hadassah existed in a different literary genre, she might give in to temptation, marry Marcus, save her own life, and live with that regret, but that is not her role, here. Rivers needs her to be steadfast and resolute in the face of death, and to be the bearer of her “good news.