Chloe Steele
Encyclopedia
Chloe Steele, a fictional character from the Left Behind
series of novels, was a Junior at Stanford University
in Palo Alto, California until the disappearance of millions of people worldwide.
, Chloe's mother, Irene
, begins attending a new church and claimed to have become a born again believer in Christ
. Irene tells Chloe she believed that one day soon God
would take His people to Heaven in the "blink of an eye." Chloe often detests going home for this reason, and she and her mother slowly grow apart, though she develops a certain kinship with her father as are both negative about their family's new interest in religion. Irene's obsession is only enhanced when Chloe comes home drunk, as Irene becomes worried about the fate of her daughter's soul. When Chloe goes off to college, she breaks nearly all ties with her family, hardly ever visiting except on holidays.
After disappearances of both her mother and younger brother, Chloe Steele was forced to decide for herself what had happened. Chloe and her father, Rayford Steele
, soon turned to her mother's church for answers. After discovering most of the congregation had been taken in the vanishings, Chloe and her father met Bruce Barnes
, an associate pastor who had been left behind.
Chloe eventually strikes up a friendship with legendary magazine writer Cameron "Buck" Williams
. They marry and have a son, Kenneth Bruce
. Chloe becomes CEO of the International Commodity Co-op, arranging for Christians worldwide to be able to purchase food, goods, and services (after Nicolae Carpathia, Antichrist
and potentate of the Global Community
, had ordered the application of the Mark of the Beast, it had become impossible for Christians to buy or sell anything since they would not take the Mark).
In Armageddon
, Chloe is drawn out of the bunker that she, Buck, Ray, and around 200 other believers are hiding in located in San Diego, California. As she leaves to investigate a GC Armoured Personnel Carrier
she spots 2-3 platoons of GC peacekeepers and takes off away from the bunker. After dropping her ski mask and Uzi she is caught by Global Community personnel and taken into custody. She is imprisoned in a small cell in the basement of the GCHQ in San Diego. Later, she is taken east via airplane to a large prison and executed by a loyalty enforcement facilitator
. She, along with other Tribulation martyrs, is resurrected at the Glorious Appearing
.
series is submission
and that Chloe Steele is a clear example of a submissive woman, both in her role as Rayford
's daughter and in her lack of employment. Another critic has suggested that the authors' desire for evangelical
, countercultural business networking
is expressed through Chloe's eventual facilitation of an international commodity co-op network that will allow Christians to survive without needing to participate in the antichrist
-run economy that requires the taking of the mark of the beast. Chloe's co-op has also been read as an allusion to agrarian reform
in the United States
, thereby endorsing populism
. Critic Jonathan Vincent has denigrated Chloe as a guerrilla fighter
who carries out retribution
on her enemies. Vincent asserts that Chloe's transition into this kind of violence is depicted in a positive manner by the novels' authors.
Left Behind (series)
Left Behind is a series of 16 best-selling novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, dealing with Christian dispensationalist End Times: pretribulation, premillennial, Christian eschatological viewpoint of the end of the world. The primary conflict of the series is the members of the Tribulation...
series of novels, was a Junior at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in Palo Alto, California until the disappearance of millions of people worldwide.
Fictional Biography
Years before the RaptureRapture
The rapture is a reference to the "being caught up" referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be caught up in the clouds to meet "the Lord"....
, Chloe's mother, Irene
Irene Steele
Irene Steele is s a fictional character in the Left Behind series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. The character is featured heavily in three Left Behind prequels The Rising, The Regime, and The Rapture.-Biography:...
, begins attending a new church and claimed to have become a born again believer in Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
. Irene tells Chloe she believed that one day soon God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
would take His people to Heaven in the "blink of an eye." Chloe often detests going home for this reason, and she and her mother slowly grow apart, though she develops a certain kinship with her father as are both negative about their family's new interest in religion. Irene's obsession is only enhanced when Chloe comes home drunk, as Irene becomes worried about the fate of her daughter's soul. When Chloe goes off to college, she breaks nearly all ties with her family, hardly ever visiting except on holidays.
After disappearances of both her mother and younger brother, Chloe Steele was forced to decide for herself what had happened. Chloe and her father, Rayford Steele
Rayford Steele
Rayford Steele is a fictional character and the de facto protagonist in the Left Behind series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. He is the leader of the group known as the Tribulation Force, and is the most elaborated character in the series....
, soon turned to her mother's church for answers. After discovering most of the congregation had been taken in the vanishings, Chloe and her father met Bruce Barnes
Bruce Barnes (Left Behind)
Bruce Barnes is a fictional character of the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins He is pastor of the New Hope Village Church in Chicago.-Fictional Biography:...
, an associate pastor who had been left behind.
Chloe eventually strikes up a friendship with legendary magazine writer Cameron "Buck" Williams
Cameron "Buck" Williams
Cameron "Buck" Williams is a fictional character in the Left Behind series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Buck is a celebrated news reporter who, after being left behind following the Rapture, becomes one of the founding members of the Tribulation Force.-Pre-Rapture:Buck was born 30...
. They marry and have a son, Kenneth Bruce
Kenny Bruce Williams
Kenny Bruce Williams is a fictional character in the Left Behind series, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.Kenny is the son of Cameron "Buck" Williams and Chloe Steele Williams, named after martyred believers Ken Ritz and Bruce Barnes. He is born during the Tribulation, in the book Apollyon...
. Chloe becomes CEO of the International Commodity Co-op, arranging for Christians worldwide to be able to purchase food, goods, and services (after Nicolae Carpathia, Antichrist
Antichrist
The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
and potentate of the Global Community
Global Community
The Global Community is a the fictional world government/state described in the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. The Global Community was established as the successor of the United Nations by Nicolae Carpathia, the series' main antagonist.At its territorial peak, the GC...
, had ordered the application of the Mark of the Beast, it had become impossible for Christians to buy or sell anything since they would not take the Mark).
In Armageddon
Armageddon
Armageddon is, according to the Bible, the site of a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or symbolic location...
, Chloe is drawn out of the bunker that she, Buck, Ray, and around 200 other believers are hiding in located in San Diego, California. As she leaves to investigate a GC Armoured Personnel Carrier
Armoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
she spots 2-3 platoons of GC peacekeepers and takes off away from the bunker. After dropping her ski mask and Uzi she is caught by Global Community personnel and taken into custody. She is imprisoned in a small cell in the basement of the GCHQ in San Diego. Later, she is taken east via airplane to a large prison and executed by a loyalty enforcement facilitator
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
. She, along with other Tribulation martyrs, is resurrected at the Glorious Appearing
Glorious Appearing
Glorious Appearing: The End of Days is the 12th book in the Left Behind series. Released on March 30, 2004, this book sees the surviving believers awaiting the return of Jesus Christ as the war of Armageddon and the seven-year Tribulation period draws to its climax...
.
Critical reception
One critic has argued that the central problem of the first novel in the Left BehindLeft Behind
Left Behind is a series of 16 best-selling novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, dealing with Christian dispensationalist End Times: pretribulation, premillennial, Christian eschatological viewpoint of the end of the world. The primary conflict of the series is the members of the Tribulation...
series is submission
Deference
Deference is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior out of respect or reverence...
and that Chloe Steele is a clear example of a submissive woman, both in her role as Rayford
Rayford Steele
Rayford Steele is a fictional character and the de facto protagonist in the Left Behind series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. He is the leader of the group known as the Tribulation Force, and is the most elaborated character in the series....
's daughter and in her lack of employment. Another critic has suggested that the authors' desire for evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
, countercultural business networking
Business networking
Business networking is a socioeconomic activity by which groups of like-minded businesspeople recognize, create, or act upon business opportunities. A business network is a type of social network whose reason for existing is business activity...
is expressed through Chloe's eventual facilitation of an international commodity co-op network that will allow Christians to survive without needing to participate in the antichrist
Antichrist
The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
-run economy that requires the taking of the mark of the beast. Chloe's co-op has also been read as an allusion to agrarian reform
Agrarian reform
Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land reform measures. Agrarian reform can include credit measures,...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, thereby endorsing populism
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
. Critic Jonathan Vincent has denigrated Chloe as a guerrilla fighter
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
who carries out retribution
Retributive justice
Retributive justice is a theory of justice that considers that punishment, if proportionate, is a morally acceptable response to crime, with an eye to the satisfaction and psychological benefits it can bestow to the aggrieved party, its intimates and society....
on her enemies. Vincent asserts that Chloe's transition into this kind of violence is depicted in a positive manner by the novels' authors.