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(Judg. 21:16-24). These instances of rape by the Israelites, often labeled
God’s chosen people, go unpunished. Additionally, according to the law
delivered to the Israelites by Moses, rape victims who are both betrothed
and sexually pure must be stoned along with the man who raped her
(Deut. 22.23-24). In the case of Deuteronomy, rape is punishable by
death, placing direct blame upon the victim’s failure to cry for help. The
Bible exhibits little sympathy towards sexual assault victims.
The treatment of sexual abuse throughout the Bible may
contribute to Peretti and Dekker’s treatment of Leslie’s character, who
was sexually abused as a child. Peretti and Dekker’s personal beliefs
pertaining to the issue of sexual abuse seem to emerge through the
narrator’s voice. As far as the two authors are concerned, the abuse that
Leslie experienced is a simple issue with a plain solution. The novel
states, “What was abuse, except the bending of something that doesn’t
want to be bent? Any psychologist could attest to the fact that
circumstances are subject to the participant caught within the
circumstance” (325). This particular framing of abuse suggests that
sexual abuse is only as damaging as the victim intends it to be and that
Leslie, as the victim, is guilty of viewing the abuse as detrimental. Peretti
and Dekker also propose that the detrimental consequences of sexual
abuse are merely subjective to the victim, minimizing the reaction range
for those who have been abused. The authors seem to suggest that
Leslie’s approach to her past should be to simply alter her mindset
concerning the sexual abuse. Instead, Leslie is unwilling to accept the
sexual abuse and remains angry towards her abuser, an erroneous manner
of approaching the issue according to Peretti and Dekker.
Throughout House, Peretti and Dekker continually identify
undesirable consequences that surface as the result of the sexual abuse
Leslie experienced. Peretti and Dekker state, “She’d been abused as a
child, but as an adult she’d embraced that abuse by becoming an active
participant” (325). Though the role of “an active participant” is not
further explored, it can be assumed that Peretti and Dekker are specifying
Leslie’s sexual indulgence as a result of the sexual abuse. As the novel
progresses, Leslie readily admits that she is a “whore” and that she is
“powerless to stop it” (288). The novel proceeds to reassert the claim that
the past abuse bolstered Leslie’s “promiscuous and inviting” behavior,
and fostered a need to hold power over the men involved in her life
(325). Leslie’s power over men is exemplified by the relationship that
she shares with Randy. Randy acknowledges Leslie as “the woman who
had tried to control him without knowing how much he resented it”
(336). By the end of the novel, Randy reclaims power of Leslie, killing