Question about the Book of Esther

[conuly]

This bugs me every time I think of it, which is surprisingly often once I bothered to look it up and find out the whole story as to why the farmer's market bakery stand is overtaken by hamantaschen every year.

So after the happy ending, the evil vizier is defeated yay, King Dim Bulb lets the Jews go out and preemptively murder literally tens of thousands of people who might pose a risk to them. Are we all supposed to just assume there was no unpleasant backlash to this action? Even if they only got the exact targets who virulently hated them and were actively plotting genocide as well... I mean... those targets had families and friends and all, right? And the innocent bystanders on either side probably were a little upset over all the blood. (I suppose that the likely consequences would make a depressing coda to the general merriment, but still.)

Comments

[mme-n-b.livejournal.com]

Not families. Not after the Jews got through with them. And not friends, not once they figured out which way the king's wind blows. But yes, once the king moved on to the next wife there was probably a backlash.