JL;DR SUMMARY The essay "Discarding Haman's Garb: Refusing the Roles of Empire" discusses Purim through a critical lens, highlighting how Haman, representing the threat to Jews, and King Ahasuerus, symbolizing the enabling of harm, play contrasting roles in the Purim narrative. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.