Babette's feast - Short Friday

Paradise…I can imagine how many different ways people embrace this idea. Well, on second thought, I actually can’t, because what may seem as paradise to one may be the complete opposite to someone else. For now, I will speak of heaven being paradise, for in the stories Short Friday, and Babette’s Feast that is what paradise seems to be. Not only are these stories similar in the fact that they both deal with religion, they also seem to have the same idea of paradise; A place where all is great and one is taken in as they come. The religions followed in both stories are different, but the sisters (Martine and Phillipa) in Babette’s Feast, and the humble couple (Shoshe and Shmul-Leible) in Short Friday honor and respect them the same. In Short Friday, before the couples journey to paradise, they share a very intimate/special night. Though Shoshe believes her husband crossed the line and disobeyed the gods, she falls into his new ways of caressing her and expressing his love to her. In Babettes feast, when Phillipa experiences her first kiss with a man she felt extremely uncomfortable. It shows how both characters may have disobeyed their religions, but immediately reacted to their actions. In short Friday, their last dinner was very important because they followed their original traditions, but that one was special. He appreciated his wife so much he made love to her in a new way. Despite the fact that it eventually lead to their death, they still went on to paradise. In Babette’s feast, the dinner made everyone think differently. Brothers and sisters let go of old grudges and two people re lived the love they once had for each other. Though this was important, more important was Babette’s great detail behind preparing this whole dinner. The sisters embraced and appreciated her so much, they said her good deed will lead her in to paradise, and she will there be what she was meant to be.