Prophet vs. Mental Illness

A prophet is someone who speaks for God, God speaks to them or through them sending information meant for others.  A prophet is a person who uses the information from God to guide others. There are several prophets in religious history.

Moses is a prophet whom it is said God came to through the burning bush to reveal his true name.  God instructed Moses to lead the Israelites away from persecution in Egypt and into Canaan.  It is through Moses that God delivers the Ten Commandments. 

Muhammad, known for meditating alone for several weeks each year in a cave outside Mecca, has been said to receive revelations from God.  He is used to warn those who reject God’s revelations.  He is also sent to praise those who abandon evil.  He was to discourage followers from greed, particularly greed that led to the suppression of the poor.

Jesus is said to be the son of God, whose mother was impregnated by Immaculate Conception.  It is believed he was sent to humanity to bring people back away from paganism to the worship of God.

The prophets mentioned were all responsible for the spreading of good, to guide people away from evil.  A similar struggle exists within Elizabeth, the main character of the novel, “A Question of Power” by Bessie Head.  Elizabeth’s struggle is internal.  The fight is waged within her mind and involves her soul.  Living in South Africa she sees a people oppressed and innumerable atrocities against them.  “The possibilities of mass suffering are being worked out in her.”  (39)

Night is the worst for Elizabeth.  “The hard conflict of good and evil in arid terrain crashed down into her consciousness as soon as she closed her eyes in the dark.” (61)  She is visited by those who claim to be God.  There is Sello, who at first represented good, and then there is Dan, who can only be thought of as evil because of the horrific things he does.  Both gods are pulling her apart, each trying to teach her about humanity and about herself. 

One has to wonder if Elizabeth is being positioned as a prophet. Religious history details many prophets and their good deeds as directed by God.  We have very little information about them being visited by evil or about an inner struggle between good and evil.  I would have to surmise that due to the extreme circumstance of her life, Elizabeth is just severely strained and it is leading to a serious mental illness.