The Victor is a Historical Christian children’s book by Patricia St. John.
Philometor, usually shortened to Philo, is a young fisherman from Syro-Phoenicia with a troubled life at home. His older sister Illyrica suffers from inexplicable fits that seem like caused by something dark and supernatural – people say that she is possessed by a demon. Then his father dies in a storm while fishing, leading to his last source of hope breaking away.But people tell interesting stories about a new prophet in the neighboring country. He seems to be able to heal the sick, feed the hungry and break curses of any kind. Can the new prophet maybe also help his family?
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- Anti-Hero: While Philo is usually a well-meaning person, he has some rather dark sides, abandons his family because he is fed up with them and burns Hiram’s boat.
- As the Good Book Says... : On the day that will go down into history as Good Friday, Philo meets a rabbi and asks him about a possible reason for the sudden disappearance of the sun. He quotes a prophecy from the book Joel to him.
- Back from the Dead: Mary from Capernaum died already once. But Jesus took her hand and she woke up again. Also happens to Lazarus and Jesus himself later.
- Bad Boss: Hiram, the fisherman Philo works for, is a terrible Jerkass and abusive to his crew.
- Been There, Shaped History: Philo meets several people who had well-known encounters with Jesus, some from his family.
- Philo meets the Gerasene who was healed by Jesus.
- His Jewish cousin Benjamin gave Jesus the famous five loaves and two fishes to feed the five thousand.
- His mother is the Syro-Phoenician woman who asked Jesus for healing her possessed daughter, and Illyrica is healed by him.
- When travelling through Samaria, Philo is given shelter by the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at Jacob’s Well and her son.
- The apostle John, son of Zebedee, is an old friend of Philo’s uncle Adoram.
- Biblical Times: Is set during the early first century AD, during the time of Jesus’ life.
- Break the Haughty: Hiram, Philo’s treacherous Bad Boss, loses his boats to a fire, his crew leaves him and some of them invoke an accident that cripples him so much that he cannot work any longer. Also his wife dies, leaving him completely alone.
- Dark and Troubled Past:
- Illyrica was born disabled and her mother consulted a medium to cure her. But she only got possessed and became the despised ‘dark shadow’ over her family’s house, while her foot healed by itself.
- The Gerasene also describes himself to have been terribly abused as a child and to have turned to a Deal with the Devil for help, but only got possessed by demons as a result.
- Death by Childbirth: Suffered by Hiram’s unnamed wife. It is implied that the child died too.
- Demonic Possession: Philo’s older sister Illyrica is suffering from it. Also the Gerasene was possessed. With the help of Jesus, both get better.
- Disappeared Dad: Philo’s father drowns in a storm, leaving him the only man in the family.
- Egocentrically Religious: Capernaum’s pharisees are like this. Philo is thrown out before a meal with them since he is a Gentile.
- Friend to All Children:
- Ione (describing Jesus): “Do you know, he loves little children very much.”
- Going Native: Philo’s uncle Adoram converted to Judaism to marry a Jewish woman from Capernaum and doesn’t feel like a foreigner in his new hometown.
- Heroic B So D: Philo has to see his father drown in a storm. He also gets a breakdown when he hears that Jesus has been crucified by regular people after seeming so strong.
- I Am X, Son of Y: Philo introduces himself once as “Philometor, son of Hadad”.
- Madwoman in the Attic: Illyrica is always in the same dark corner in the house, since she seems to fear daylight. She only leaves her family’s house at night.
- Magic Is Evil: Philo’s mother believes that. Since buying the services of a medium made her oldest daughter possessed, she considers all magic to originate straight from the pit of hell. Nevertheless, she is rather hypocritical about that belief.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: First, Hiram’s boats are set on fire by members of his crew. Later he gets hurt by other crewmembers to a degree that renders him unable to work.
- The Pollyanna: Philo’s younger sister Ione, who is happy and optimistic despite her family’s situation. Especially after first contact with Jesus.
- Riches to Rags: Downplayed with Lady Jezebel’s husband, who has leprosy and has to live far off in a little cottage besides his rich fortune and Big Fancy House. He can still access it, but needs help and lives an isolated life.
- Scenery Porn: There are lovely descriptions of the landscapes to find in first-century Syria and Palestine.
- Turn to Religion: Happens to Philo during the course of the book. Why he starts off quite uninterested in religion, he becomes interested into faith by hearing of Jesus’ teachings and miracles and the last installment shows him praying to Jesus, calling him his God.
