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Essays on how religion affected the development of the united states up to 1880
Political decisions influenced by religion in America
Political decisions influenced by religion in America
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Mark Twain, in his seminal novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, employs a layered and multifaceted critique of the reconstruction era in the American South and industrialized New England. Along the way, he also advances a stern rebuke of Catholicism and organized religion. It will be the contention of this essay that Twain’s satire of the church was an effort at proving the hypothesis that the church and its agents dehumanizes society rather than advancing it. When Hank, Twain’s protagonist and symbolic technocrat, ascends to the role of “Boss” early in the novel, the author announces his intentions in relation to religion: “Yes, in power, I was equal to the King. At the same time, there was a power that was a trifle stronger than both of us put together. That was the church. I do not wish to disguise that …show more content…
Morgan La Fay was duly angered but powerless to stop the Boss, “The Queen was a good deal outraged, next morning, when she found out she was going to have neither Hugo’s life nor his property. But I told her she must bear this cross…and so in Arthur the king’s name, I had pardoned him” (126). This reflects the author’s contempt for the piety of church and nobility who can imprison, impoverish and murder with impunity. Twain follows this by proceeding on a diatribe against organized religion in feudal times. While it is Hank offering judgement, the author’s voice rings clear rather than speaking in allegory and symbolism: But I did not like it. For it was just the sort of thing to people reconciled to an Established Church. We must have religion-it goes without saying- but my idea is, to have it cup up into forty free sects as had been the case in the United States of my time. Concentration of power in political machine is bad and an Established Church is only a political machine; it was invented for that…
As America slowly began molding into the creases of different values and cultures, so did its literature. One trait that had always been securing itself within the lines of these literary texts was the protagonists’ naivety. Theses characters typically established an intention to do good things, but eventually fail due to tumbling upon tempting obstacles and falling into the trance of distractions. An example of this situation occurred long ago during the 16th and 17th century. A cult of English Protestants known as Puritans aimed to “purify” the Church of England by excreting all evidence of its descent in the Roman Catholic Church. The Puritans enforced strict religious practices upon its believers and regarded all pleasure and luxury as wicked or sacrilegious. Although their “holy” cond...
At the end of the book, however, everything he had built was destroyed. Hank was defeated by the superstitions he made fun of, when Merlin put him to sleep for thirteen centuries. Even though Hank caused major change and had the world in the palm of his hand for a while, things ultimately went back to where they belonged. This quote is said by Merlin after putting the spell on Hank: “‘Ye were conquerors; ye are conquered!’” It exemplifies how Twain feels about science and technology. He respects that these factors are very powerful and influential, but at the end of the day, he feels that they cannot be all-encompassing. Twain neither satirizes those who believe that science and technology are the saviors of mankind, nor believes it himself. He knows that no matter how much knowledge humanity acquires, there will always be human error to keep technology in
Guttmann, Allen. “Mark Twain’s Connecticut Yankee: Affirmation of the Vernacular Tradition?” in Critics on Mark Twain, pp.103-107. Edited by David B. Kesterson. Coral Gables: University of Miami Press, 1973.
The act of Christian men and woman, such as in the Catholic faith, is often contradictory as to how they believe they should live their lives. In the book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain strikes a parallel between two feuding families, and the contradictory patterns of the Church they attend. This parallel is first grazed on when upon attempting to explain to Huck why the feud started, Buck Grangerford declares that "Oh, yes, pa knows, I reckon and some of the other old people; but they don't know what the row was about in the first place" (Twain 108). From this it is evident that the two families have no idea what they are fighting about.
His Own Voice Mark Twain has a distinct writing style that includes had opinionated satire and presented social classes. These elements are present in the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In ch.4 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a judge comes to Tom’s religious school and tries to get the students attention by saying, “Now, children, I want you all to sit up just as straight and pretty as you can and give me all of your attention for a minute or two. That’s the way good little boys and girls should do.” When writing this, Twain has demonstrated his satire against religion and the church.
Twain’s use of irony in his piece “War Prayer” is used throughout by the church and their willingness to pray to God for protection of patriots however this would result in the wrong doing or even death of the others.
He brings Guenevere here for protection after rescuing her from arthur’s knights when she is about to be executed for treason .The ungentle laws and customs touched upon this tale are historical / and the episodes which are used to illustrate them are also historical . Anxious to learn about the conditions of
Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.
Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered the great American Novel with its unorthodox writing style and controversial topics. In the selected passage, Huck struggles with his self-sense of morality. This paper will analyze a passage from Adventures of huckleberry Finn and will touch on the basic function of the passage, the connection between the passage from the rest of the book, and the interaction between form and content.
Twain’s novel was greatly influenced by the times and criticizes the imperfections in society. These errors in society were subjective to the current events during the Gilded Age. The following show the effects of the current times that influenced the context of the novel. One of America’s leading historians of America in the west, Patricia N. Limerick well elaborates on what happened in the Gilded Age. The following quote fro...
This essay will analyze the themes of religion, slavery, and democracy in the book Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. By exploring these themes that lie behind the book’s veneer, we can understand Twain’s objective for writing this book.
...he refused to acquiesce to convention in his writings. Though he viciously attacked the wrongs that permeated his world, he did not solve the problems of humanity with his literature. But the vital voice of his literature is not dead, and it offers guidance for those seeking to fathom Twain's mark.
Though Twain clearly values non-conformist spirit, he recognizes the strong and overbearing hold of societal pressure and conformity make his desire of an ideal society hard to achieve. In The War Prayer he illustrates that those who recognize the existence of these illusionary barriers and dare to challenge the existing norms face roadblocks. As the church members pray to God to “crush the foe” and “grant to [the. . . ] country imperishable honor and glory,” few seem to care that their prayer, should it be answered, would result in the annihilation of other individuals (“Prayer” 682). Even those who do step forward to question the war’s merit receive “such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety’s sake they quickly [shrink] out of sight
The institution of an aristocracy contrasts with democracy, a central ideal of Americans. The exploitation of a lower class, who have no say in their position, by an idle upper class is in direct conflict with the idealistic vision of American society. In A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Mark Twain attempts to highlight the disconnect between aristocratic rulers and their subject’s strife, the enslavement of lower classes by aristocracies, and the societal benefits of democracy.
This is lucidly shown in Huck as his adventures evolve further into seriousness. Though the book has its serious points a lot throughout, Twain still adds a punch of humor to keep everything interesting and entertaining. The reader's opinion may have changed a little after reading Huck's adventures and seeing his changes. Huck's views on, "right and wrong" opinions, views of slavery, and the tricks he plays all show the beliefs that Huck withheld in the early part of the book. Huck's opinion of religion shows his lack of concern for serious things.