Saul, the first king of Israel, is one of the tragic figures in the Bible. He fails to meet the demands placed upon him, as well as his own ambitious goals. Nothing was handed to him easily. What he had approached with hope gradually fell apart, and this realization tore him apart, as he repeatedly fought against it. He was not satisfied with half measures; he wanted the whole, the ideal that was before him, with all his might. But can one impose an ideal in an imperfect, fragmented world? The attempt is bound to fail; it does not lead to the goal but inevitably to violence and inhumanity. Saul recognized this but did not want to accept it. This was his doom, and he suffered because of it. This is recounted retrospectively by Saul's last descendant. Alongside him, three other narrators share their personal perspectives.