ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a reading of four literary pieces that draw upon Gen. 4:1–16: Cain: A Mystery by George Gordon Byron, “Juan Lopez and John Ward” by Jorge Luis Borges, and “The Eternal Dice” and “I Am Going to Speak about Hope” by César Vallejo. The author shows that these authors have gone much further than modern biblical scholars in challenging the biblical God, often along the lines plumbed by Agamben. This, in turn, enabled them to raise sensitive issues with regard to the human condition and especially to the ways of understanding and helping the other without destroying him or her.
