Katy's Feminist Analysis of The Welcoming Door

Speculation is one of the key attributes of Christian literature. Kenny Kemp uses his imagination quite a bit in his reconstruction of the Prodigal Son story in the book The Welcoming Door. Kemp uses a broad Christian genre to tell his story, rather than addressing simply an LDS audience. Themes that run throughout the story are: patriarchy, love, religion, pride, and humility, but all from a very male perspective. There is little to no focus on female emotion and influence, with the two female characters mentioned being a prostitute and a pregnant woman. The reduction of the female role to the whore/angel binary is problematic and found within much Christian literature. One could argue that by including female characters in a story where none are traditionally found, Kemp is being progressive. However, the words he uses to describe the women in his story are mostly based on sexuality and physical beauty, or their subordination to the will of the patriarch. Rachel is described by both Reuben and Simeon as "beautiful," and is raised up as an example of female domesticity. Rahab is also portrayed as "beautiful," with her golden eyelids, but there is an inherent mistrust that Reuben feels towards her. He views her as an object to help him in his transition from "country boy to worldly man" and nothing more (22). Both women exist primarily to reaffirm the manhood of their counterparts, and are not given any characterization outside of their relationships to the two men.