04_Biblica_1_A_Ossandon_Layout 1 05/11/12 12:18 Pagina 399 399 BARTIMAEUS’ FAITH With respect to 10,47, it must be noted that the reproduction of Bartimaeus’ words omits one of them, “Jesus”. The requirement of condensing moves the narrator to take away the less important ele- ment, so that the emphasis falls on the Davidic title and the petition for mercy. At the same time, it is meaningful that the narrator has avoided indirect speech. He could easily have said that Bartimaeus cried “again”, or “with the same words”, or something similar. Thus, if Jesus or the narrator were against the title Son of David used by Bartimaeus, they should manifest some kind of disapproval. d) 10,49 Here we can recall what was observed about Jesus’ characteri- zation. His command to call Bartimaeus, instead of his going where he is sitting, can be considered a manifestation of authority and dig- nity, and also a way of probing the endurance of Bartimaeus. With regard to the narrator’s ideological point of view, his position does not appear. If in 10,48 he seemed to sympathize with Bartimaeus, he now moves away from him and concentrates on Jesus. Why does the narrator name Bartimaeus as “the blind man” and not otherwise, for example “the beggar”, or by his proper name? The same phenomenon will occur in 10,51. Bartimaeus is named by one of his features, blindness. This preference can be explained as a re- source to prepare the denouement and consequently as part of the plot’s management, because it helps to understand that Bartimaeus will ask for healing and not for money, as might be expected from a beggar 61. e) 10,50 On the ideological plane, Bartimaeus’ reaction manifests his ac- ceptance of Jesus’ call. The narrator seems to sympathize with Bar- timaeus, simply because he obeys Jesus, whose position is normative. f) 10,51 Ideologically, Jesus’ point of view is still hidden, at least with respect to the acceptance or refusal of Bartimaeus’ request. The nar- rator ’s point of view is hidden too. There is no signal which can re- 61 If the naming is taken as being part of the psychological plane of point of view, as Yamasaki suggests, then the narrator intends to present Bartimaeus as seen by those who speak to him. See YAMASAKI, Watching, 171-172.