Tophet

Alluding to hell in Laurie Halse Anderson’s Twisted

Mrs. Jeanne SkotnickiWest Seneca West Senior H.S.

January 2013

Definition of tophet

• Shrine south of ancient Jerusalem where human sacrifices were performed to Moloch in Jeremiah 7:31

• Synonyms: hell, Gehenna

Fertility Rites

• Middle-Eastern religions (including Judaism, Christianity, Islam) included fertility rites.

• Populations desired regular seasons so that “seedtime and harvest … shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22).

• Fertility cults emerged as a way to appease gods and ensure a normal seasonal pattern.

Tophet

• Certain sites include an area called a tophet containing large numbers of infant sacrifices.

• The tophet reflects one aspect of a fertility cult in which the first-born child was thought to belong to the deity and was therefore sacrificed.

• Deities rewarded parents who sacrificed their first-born children with future fertility.

The tophet at Sardinia

• A tophet at the Sant’Antioco Phonecian excavation site.

• Phonecia: 1200 BCE - 333 BCE

• Previously Canaan, known today as Sardinia (off the coast of Italy)

http://search.eb.com/eb/art-2392

Burial Urn

• An urn at the tophet at Sardinia, in which the skeletons of live infants were found.

The Valley of Hinnom

• Gehenna signifies the Valley of Hinnom, an actual place outside of Jerusalem.

• In Jer 7.31 this valley is called Tophet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Valley_of_Hinom_PA180090.JPG

Tophet is Hell

• Gehenna, also called Gehinnom, is the place of the damned according to Jewish and Christian doctrine.

• Originally a place where children were burned as sacrifices to the god Moloch (from 10th – 6th century BC)

• Later made a garbage dump to discourage the reintroduction of such rites.

• Imagery of burning humans supplied the concept of “hellfire” to Jewish and Christian doctrines.

Tophet in Twisted

• When writing Twisted, Laurie Halse Anderson deliberately named Tyler’s pastime Tophet.

• Your task:– Revisit passages mentioning tophet in Twisted to

analyze and discuss Ms. Anderson’s use of this allusion.

• Please read the card handed to your group and answer all questions on a sheet of paper.

Works CitedAnderson, Laurie. “And the TWISTED teacher winner is.....” Weblog Entry. Mad

Woman in the Forest. 05 Sept. 2007. 27 March 2009 <http://halseanderson.livejournal.com/149287.html>.

"Gehenna." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 29 Mar. 2009 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9036298>.

“Gehenna.” Wikipedia. 22 March 2009. 29 March 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gehinnom>

“Middle Eastern religion.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 28 March 2009. <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-68353>

"Phoenicia: tophet at Sant’Antioco." Online Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 29 Mar. 2009 <http://search.eb.com/eb/art-2392>.

"Tophet." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Merriam-Webster Online. 29 March 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Tophet>

Interpretations

Still confused?

Tyler’s hell

• Anderson posted the following ideas (from a Tonawanda HS teacher) on her blog:

• “Tophet, to summarize, means child sacrifice and/or hell. As Tyler is playing the game, he is living through his own personal hell as his "real" world crumbles around him. As he is conquering more levels (and advancing through hell) his personal life seems to get more and more convoluted...”

Beating the odds

• “…When he becomes stuck in the game, it seems to be at times where he is reevaluating his options in life (sacrificing himself through suicide being one very real choice). When he does "beat" the game at the end, he has also beaten the odds and survived his own twisted past; he is finally able to look beyond both the game and high school to see a real future.“

- Julia Borgisi of Kenmore East High School