Week 7: Blake’s Job Engravings

WEEK 7: Give a brief account of your experience of Blake’s Job engravings saying how they affected you personally and what meaning you draw from them for your own life.

My experiences with Blake’s Job engravings have without a doubt been profound to say the least. Studying Blake’s engravings throughout the semester definitely broadened my understanding of his radical nature, in particular his beliefs on Christianity. Growing up attending a catholic primary and high school, we were taught from kindergarten onwards about the nature and importance of Christianity and how God’s light is always prominent in our lives. In relation to Blake’s beliefs, I was extremely taken aback by his radical thoughts towards Christianity and his firm belief that the Devil plays a strong role in the lives of many.

One particular engraving that had a definite impact on me was plate 13, titled “The Lord answering Job out of the whirlwind.” Why this plate? Well, I think through this one particular plate, Blake successfully highlights the epitome of his religious beliefs, as he strongly believed in the fact that it was God who supported him through his period of darkness. This plate has affected my life in the sense that it provided me with a deacon of hope for the difficult times that I have experienced throughout my life. Through this plate, Blake has shown me that God is present in our lives even when we feel as if he doesn’t exist. As Job suffered immensely as a result of Satan’s plan for him, he never gave up on God and continued to practice his faith and this basically captures the essence of Christianity.