The new covenant of communion established by Christ emphasizes the deep bond formed when people break bread together. In literature, authors often use meals to cement connections and explore the complexities of human relationships. Here are three examples from works I teach to my freshmen every semester.
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road:
In The Road, a post-apocalyptic novel, the scarcity and preciousness of food shape the father and son’s journey. When they discover a bunker filled with food, they thank the now-absent individuals for sharing their meal. The conflict between the man and the boy stems from the boy’s desire to share food with strangers. McCarthy depicts the brokenness of this world by showing the novel’s villains consuming human flesh and blood, a grotesque distortion of holy communion. The boy offers food to others, signifying divine compassion.
Shakespeare’s Macbeth:
The Scottish tragedy presents a twisted parody of communion when Banquo’s bloody body appears at Macbeth’s dinner party. The bloody apparition demonstrates the consequences of breaking covenant relationships and is a haunting reminder of Macbeth’s treacherous descent.
Jhumpa Lahiri’s “This Blessed House”:
n the 1999 short story “This Blessed House,” a newlywed Indian-American couple, Sanjeev and Twinkle, navigate their new life together while discovering Christian artifacts in their home. The story culminates in a dinner party, where the couple’s friends gather to celebrate their marriage and home. As the guests bond with Twinkle over Indian food and a scavenger hunt for religious objects, the couple’s marriage reaches a breaking point. Despite his aversion to it, Sanjeev must admit that the bust of Christ Twinkle finds is beautiful. The story ends with insights into the couple’s covenant with each other and connection to the spiritual dimension of life.
Drawing on the biblical theme of communion and Christ’s new covenant, authors such as Cormac McCarthy, William Shakespeare, and Jhumpa Lahiri use shared meals to explore human relationships’ complexities and food’s power to unite or divide us. These literary works remind us of the significance of breaking bread in strengthening connections and understanding what it means to be made in God’s image.
Experiments in Criticism 