Augustine's Confessions

In Augustine’s Confessions, Augustine examines will and the affect it had on his conversion to the Catholic faith. This is further developed by Augustine’s concentration on how human beings act in a social environment. During the stories from his youth, this is increasingly valuable to understand. Building from this, it is important to question how will and sin are affiliated. Inevitably, this leads into the analysis of how the human will is inherently connected to the problem of evil. Augustine uses his personal reflection as a means of exploring these subjects in his own life, thus finding the link between temptation and will. This enables him to discover what he must do to finally convert to the Catholic faith. Will is an important part

Augustine was interested in this phenomenon and the implications that incontrovertibly come with it. The theft of pears from an orchard by adolescents seems like a petty offense to most readers. However, Augustine uses this sin as an exemplar for the sins he committed in his childhood, as well as the common sins of humanity. In this passage Augustine writes, “Our only pleasure in doing it was that it was forbidden” (2.IV.9). An interesting point raised by Augustine here is that he has a lack of rational motivation for this crime. His theft had no excuse beyond the unlawful excitement that comes from wrongdoing. At this point Augustine begins to consider the life of people within society and his motive becomes clear. He states, “I am altogether certain that I would not have done it alone. Perhaps what I really loved was the companionship of those with whom I did it” (2.VIII.16). In modern society this would be easily attributed to the phenomenon of peer pressure. Nevertheless, Augustine attempts to explain the workings of this social pressure and what it is about people that make them so susceptible to their will when they are in groups; Augustine has trouble rationalizing this, as he values friendship deeply. During the rest of the narration, Augustine keeps this strain of thought in the forefront of his

However, upon further review, it is a valid declaration that stems from an initial temptation. Augustine is able to support this proclamation with his use of biblical reflection. In supplement to the juxtaposition of the scene involving Augustine's grief underneath the fig tree in book eight and his theft from the pear tree in book two, both of these have links to the story of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-24). Moreover, mankind’s fundamental defiance and fall from grace involved an unacceptable taking of fruit from a tree in a garden. Not coincidentally, Augustine's eventual conversion takes place under a fruit tree in a garden. This moment stands in stark contrast to Augustine’s aforementioned episode of sin, in his youth, as well as to Adam and Eve’s. Coupling this with the previous statement regarding how Augustine’s exemplar sin of stealing pears is used as a specific case of the common sins of mankind, it is clear that evil and will are seemingly