Describe symbolism in J. B. by Archibald MacLeish

J. B. , published in 1958, is a play in verse based on the biblical story of Job. It represents Archibald MacLeish's responses to the horrors he saw during two world wars, including the Holocaust and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In addition, much of the Biblical story of Job is made up of debate with Three Comforters, but this takes up only one scene in this play. Instead, most of JB is made up of scenes like this one between JB and his family. These family scenes are built around tensions between JB and Sarah which dramatize and externalize the internal conflict JB faces between faith (represented by JB) and fear (represented by Sarah). These two emotional states themselves represent the principal aspects of man's traditional relationship with God as portrayed in the Bible: faith in God's love but fear of his vengeance.