The+Writing+on+the+Wall

Background Story: A King named Belshazzar hosts a party for thousands of people. He orders that silver and golden vessels be taken out of a temple in Jerusalem for him and his men to drink his wine from. Once they drank the wine, they praise the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, and wood. Belshazzar sees the fingers of a man write a message on the plaster of one of his walls. He feels troubled and worries about what the writing meant. He orders that astrologists and soothsayers be brought over to interpret the meaning of the message.

The king offers great rewards for the interpretation of the message, but none of his wise men are able to tell what is said. He once again feels troubled. His wife tells him of a man that can be able to interpret the message named Daniel. Daniel is brought to Belshazzar, and Belshazzar offers him a reward to decipher the message. Daniel turns down his reward and tells him first that he has opposed the lord of heaven. He deciphers the message as:

**MENE MENE TEKEL UPARSHIN**

He says that **MENE** means that god has numbered his kingdom, and finished it. He says that **TEKEL** means that he is weighted in the balances,. He says that **UPARSHIN** means that his kingdom is divided between the Medes and Persians.

Belshazzar awards Daniel for the translation, and is later killed by Darius I of the Persians.


 * This biblical story shows the theme and the consequences of disrespect and greed. By taking the the silver and golden vessels from the Jerusalem Temple, Belshazzar took them out of greed and disrespected the reason they were placed there and was later punished.

Allusions:

Allusions to this story all have to do with a mention of a "Writing on the Wall", one of the most symbolic parts of the story (hence the name). The writing on the wall that Belshazzar saw was a sign that he was going to soon lose his life and his kingdom. Similarly, when a character refers to a writing on the wall, they are talking about something that will come soon or a fate that they can see, almost always relating to the demise of that or another character.
 * Novel || * "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Louis Stevenson
 * "Endgame" by Samuel Beckett
 * "City of Ashes" by Cassandra Clare
 * "V." by Tomas Pychon ||
 * Music || * "Belshazzar's Feast" (cantata) by William Walton
 * "Pins and Needles" (soundtrack) by Harold Rome ||
 * Poem/Song || * "The Writing on the Wall" by Viola Pressley ||

The Writing on the Wall  Viola Pressley I can see the writing on the wall without you saying a word at all.

I can see it oh so clearly. I can tell just by the look in your eyes exactly what you’ve got on your mind and it brings tears to me. Well those ivory towers won’t come falling down unless you allow them to.

Don’t be a fool. Don’t you dare throw away all you’ve worked so hard for, that’s just not you. Don’t you dare give up, don’t you ever give in.

Don’t let anyone else think they’ve gotten the best of you. You’re looking for some answers because you feel that you’ve been cheated.

You want to vent your anger because you’re tired of being played for a fool, you’re fed up with being mistreated. You say you want to be the greatest, you want to be the best.

Seems you’re never satisfied always searching for more. Every time you look in the mirror a miracle is staring you in the face.

Someone who is the best of the best, far above and beyond great, unlike all the rest. You already have what you’re searching for, all that so many could only wish for. You’re listening to the voices whispering in the wind, that are calling out to you when things don’t go right and things don’t go your way, telling you to give up, telling you to give in. Don’t listen to the negative voices in your head telling you to walk away from what you have.

Life has its ups and downs and you’ve got to be strong enough to take the good along with the bad. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">The writing is on the wall.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">You want to throw in the towel and walk away from it all but baby I just can’t stand by and let you.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">If I did I could never forgive myself. I love you too much to stand by and watch you walk away without having a word to say. I love you too much to ever forget you. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">You’re planning to walk away before the dawn without an explanation or a goodbye.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">You’re willing to throw away all you’ve worked so hard for after how far you’ve come and I just can’t understand why. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">The writing is on the wall.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s either your way or nothing at all. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">The writing is on the wall, you’re already great but you feel you have to be the greatest and if not, you’re willing to take a fall. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">The times we know you’re willing to just throw them all away saying you’ll be free. Free from all you wished for, all you’ve worked so hard for, free from being the greatness you’re searching for but you’ve already found, that greatness you always have been, the greatness you always will be.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Beckett, Samuel, and Rónán McDonald. //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Endgame //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. London: Faber and Faber, 2009. Print.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Clare, Cassandra, and Mike Rosamilia. //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">City of Ashes //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. New York: Margaret K. McElderry, 2008. Print.

//<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Genesis //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. New York: World, 1962. Print.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Pressley, Viola. "The Writing on the Wall" //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Poem Hunter //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Pynchon, Thomas. //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">V: A Novel //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. New York: Bantam, 1964. Print.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Rome, Harold, Arthur Arent, Marc Blitzstein, Emanuel Eisenberg, Charles Friedman, Barbra Streisand, Rose Marie. Jun, Jack Carroll, Harold Rome, and Stan Freeman. //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Pins and Needles Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition of the Hit Musical Revue //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. Columbia, 1993. CD.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Stevenson, Robert Louis. //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1990. Print.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Walton, William, Osbert Sitwell, William Frazier. Stone, Derek Lee. Ragin, Robert Shaw, Leonard Bernstein, and Leonard Bernstein. //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Belshazzar's Feast //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. Telarc, 1989. CD.