The Harbinger: The Ancient Mystery that Holds the Secret of America's Future

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-7

Chapters 8-10

Chapters 11-13

Chapters 14-16

Chapters 17-19

Chapters 20-22

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Seals

As the prophet states in the beginning of the novel: “The seal was the sign of authenticity” (8), allowing the recipient of a message to know that it came from a specific person and could be trusted. In the novel, the seals establish the link between the biblical prophecies on ancient Israel and the modern prophecy on America, but they also establish the prophet as a prophet and Kaplan as the scribe of the prophet. As a symbol, the seals likewise represent the authenticity of the novel itself, as they provide the link between the actual biblical events and modern American events that allow Jonathan Cahn to construct the novel. Just as the name of Baruch on Kaplan’s seal verifies Kaplan’s role as the scribe, so, too, does the inclusion of the seals establish Cahn’s authenticity as an author.

The seals are used in the novel to serve various purposes. The seal Kaplan receives initially serves to initiate his interest in the prophet, and the nine seals of the harbingers serve first to verify the harbingers, and then to verify the four mysteries of the second part of the novel. However, it is important to consider that Kaplan often studies the seals, carrying them with him and occasionally deriving insight from them. They serve, in this sense, the purpose of reinforcing the presence of the mystery in Kaplan’s life, and, therefore, in the reader’s life. At least one seal is always on his person, just as his recorder is, and the two combine to constitute Kaplan’s role as the scribe. In the end, Kaplan’s seal is revealed to be that of Baruch ben Neriah, the scribe to the prophet Jeremiah, and this reveal both links Kaplan, whose first name is Baruch, to the prophet, but also resolves the authenticity of the entire novel through a direct connection to a biblical prophet.

Guiding Dialogue

Dialogue itself is present in most works, and it serves as a way for characterization to occur while progressing the plot of the work. However, a motif in The Harbinger is deliberately guiding dialogue, in which one party participates in the dialogue for the sole purpose of allowing the other party to elaborate. Throughout the novel, Goren plays this supporting role to Kaplan, and, more often, Kaplan plays this role for the prophet. A recurring example would be Kaplan’s phrasing: “what does it have to do with” (72), which usually occurs when the prophet needs to establish a link between a biblical narrative and present events. Kaplan asks the question most commonly as “What does it have to do with America?” (81), which occurs in this form 12 times in the novel. More commonly, though, Kaplan will repeat a phrase back to the prophet in the form of a question, or he will ask brief questions that allow the prophet to continue his narrative.

As a motif, guiding dialogue is a rhetorical strategy in which the author creates the appearance that two people are exploring a topic, when the topic has already been fully explored. Rather than having a single character conduct a monologue for the entirety of the narrative, this form of dialogue is used to allow the reader to take on the role of the supporting character. The assumption is that the reader, or some readers, will have the same questions for the predominant character as those asked by the supporting character, creating a kind of interaction between the reader and the text. The motif creates a pattern in which the prophet is usually in control of the conversation, which mirrors the relationship between a scribe during dictation, in which the scribe would likely ask the speaker to clarify or elaborate to write out a complete message. As such, this kind of dialogue is appropriate between the prophet and Kaplan, as well as between Kaplan and Goren, as Kaplan is the prophet’s scribe, and Goren is Kaplan’s publisher.

Divine Inspiration and Influence/Mystique

The prophet is a mysterious character from the beginning of the novel, and his air of mystery constitutes a motif in that it forms a pattern of explaining, or avoiding explanation, of mysterious events through divine influence or inspiration. When the prophet knows information ahead of time or can arrive at a location precisely when he would need to, these are examples of the divine influence that the prophet appears to have or to use when needed. The harbingers themselves are explained as the result of divine influence, with Kaplan and the prophet agreeing that only God could execute a plan on so massive a scale, but the motif lies more in the actions of the prophet, as these establish a pattern through which the reader can better understand the overarching narrative. Just as Kaplan and Goren resolve that they cannot understand the prophet’s mystique, the reader must resolve that they cannot understand the divinity of the harbingers and God’s plan.

This is not to say that Cahn is claiming to have divine influence, but it does imply that the novel itself is divinely inspired as much as all actions are framed as a part of God’s plan in the novel. As reason and fact play a role in Cahn’s communication of the prophecy, faith and mystery also play a role in the construction of the narrative through which that prophecy is delivered. The inclusion of a pattern of magical acts and events can be seen as an emphasis on the divine will that is supposed to be behind the events described in the book, or it can be seen as evidence that the work is truly fictional.