Eye for an Eye
“You must pay for everything in this world one way and another. There is nothing free except the Grace of God. You can’t earn that or deserve it” (Portis 40.) Everything you do, good or bad, carries some sort of judgment from the Lord. You might slip through the cracks from this world judgments and law, but you will be judged according to your doings, in this world by God. You can’t earn nor deserve the Grace of the Lord, because it was already given to us in the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25.) This gave us Grace to be forgiven after our sin if we repent from further sinning’s. This means you can’t go and commit a crime of revenge, knowing
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Mattie Ross believed she is a “good Christian” (Portis 92) but she is just as callous as Tom Chaney’s soul. “The wicked flee when none purseth” (Portis 17), the wicked is always looking back and are jumpy because they know deep down; they’re in judgment of some sort. She takes the law and justice into her own hands, to pursue her father’s murder and unaware that the little devil is holding her hand into the darkness. Mattie’s Christian ways are deceived by the misinterpretation of the bible passages in the Old Testament “eye for [an] eye” (Exodus 21:24) to fit her avenge to seek blood from the man who is hardened in heart with no sympathy for his actions. This was the beginning of Gods will and redemption in Mattie’s life of a sinful …show more content…
19:20-21, Lev. 24:19-20) and feels entitled to “the law of retaliation” (Wiki. 2015) to do harm to Tom Chaney, no matter the consequences’ that will fall upon her from sin. “The eye that now sees me will see no longer: you will look for me, but I will be no more” (Job 7:8) God mention this to the people who seem to walk by faith, but are quick to take avenges from others who have harmed them. Mattie has no such power to complete Gods will for Chaney. Mattie has no fear of what waits upon her from Gods judgment towards her sin nor does she care for God’s eternal truth for “Amazing Grace” (Portis
“The journey of the hero is about the courage to seek the depths; the image of creative rebirth; the eternal cycle of change within us…The hero journey is a symbol that binds …. (Phil Cousineau).” Mattie Ross learns this in True Grit, by Charles Portis, when she experiences the death of her father. She says, ”…Tom Chaney shot my father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas and robbed him of his life and his horses and $150 in cash money plus two California gold pieces that he carried in his trouser band(11)”. Frank Ross, Matties’ father, who was shot to death, by a man named, Tom Chaney. Mattie Ross is just 14 years old in the 1870’s, she states, “Nothing is free in this world except the grace of god, you must pay for everything.(pg?)” Personal growth often comes at a great expense. She is in beginning of the separation stage in a hero’s journey, which consists of the call and threshold. Harris and Thompson define the call as, “…invites the initiate into the adventure, offers her the opportunity to face the unknown, an imbalance or injustice in her life”(50). Her father getting killed and Mattie getting vengeance, is her invite. This is followed by, the threshold, known as the jumping off point. She states, “We hit the river running…we came out some little ways down the river.”(107) She has now made it into the Choctaw Nation to assist in the pursuit, in the unknown world, “a different world full of dangers and challenges (Harris and Thompson 50)”. Next, is the initiation and transformation then, the return to the known world. You can see, Mattie encounters her call when her father was killed.
Colin Powell once stated, “A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” Powell means that the only path available to achieve a goal, is the one where everyone brings their best characteristics to the table. This describes the characters in a quest story as they all bring their talents and best attributes to accomplish a common goal. Charles Portis’s True Grit is no exception as the three main characters resemble those of a quest story having characteristics that play a big part in achieving their goal. Mattie Ross resembles the quest hero persona, Rooster Cogburn as the wise old man, and Ranger LaBeouf as the hero’s helper and guide.
Jim Casy’s actions bore a close resemblance to the actions of Jesus Christ. In the time the book was published, this was viewed as an act of blasphemy. As discussed in class, many of the acts, trials, and tribulations of Jim Casy (along with the ominous JC initials) parallel those of Jesus. Jim Casy represents the epitome of personal reverence, despite his renunciation of preaching.
By embedding tragedies such as the corruption of J.B’s family, modernizing the true disposition of the Three Comforters, and renewing J.B’s ending along with his own aspect from the biblical story of Job, Archibald MacLeish has answered the question asked by the innocent, “Why do the righteous suffer?” After all, J.B becomes a stronger person than ever, because he overcomes his own obstacles and fear. The innocent has to suffer from the punishments from God in order to gain new experiences and to be more independent. Everyone has to suffer in order to be a better a person.
Jim Casy, an ex-preacher, constantly shares his thoughts and philosophies about life. Throughout the novel, he indirectly alludes to Jesus Christ. Casy believes that men are holy, and later he, just like Jesus, is killed for opposing human cruelty and suffering.
Charles Portis’s famous novel True grit published in 1968 was the basis of both the 1969 and the 2010 movie. The 2010 movie by the Coen Brothers covers a lot of stuff from the book, but I think they made the character Mattie a lot different then the book. In the book Mattie was a 14 teen year old girl who wasn't afraid of anything, and was not afraid to take revenge on her fathers killer Tom Chaney. Some of events in the movie made her look tough but the actor was too nice and cute to play Mattie. They also made her way more emotional than in the book. Even though they covered most of the events of the book I still don't like the way they made the movie.
If you went off on a quest would you come back a changed person? “The Hero’s Journey isn’t just a pattern from myth. It’s the pattern of life, growth, and experience for all of us”(Harris and Thompson 49). Charles Portis is the author of True Grit, a western novel that takes place through the Indian Territory in Arkansas. In the novel True Grit, the character Mattie Ross, shows an interesting example of “The Hero’s Journey.” As we read we learn she is very outspoken and strong willed, she always wants things to be her way. Mattie shows us a great example of being very independent at the age of fourteen, but after her journey does she truly change as a person?
As a child, Hazel Motes is indoctrinated in religious fundamentalism by his grandfather, “a circuit preacher, a waspish old man… with Jesus hidden in his head like a stinger” (9). Time after time young Haze hears the searing sermon of his Bible-thumping grandfather who, in front of a crowd, would point to his grandson, “that mean sinful unthinking boy,” and pronounced him “redeemed”: “That boy had been redeemed and Jesus was not going to leave him ever…. Jesus would have him in the end!” (10). Understanding Jesus as the “soul-hungry” devourer, as “something awful,” the boy very early comes to the conclusion that “the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin” and, at the age of twelve, decides to follow the preacher’s calling like his grandfather. Furthermore, Haze’s mother, with “a cross-shaped face” reinforces the fundament- alist piety in her son by equating the boy’s germination sexuality with sin. Her chilling question “what you seen?,” to the shame-faced boy who just had a peek at a naked w...
consequences of sin. Paul confirms this in Romans 3:10, “There is none righteous, no not one.”
Punishment/Capital Punishment and the Christian attitude towards it has been a topic that has been and still is being debated today. Punishment, but in particular, Capital Punishment, is a complicated topic to discuss, especially when it comes to Christian attitudes and the ethics towards it. The purpose of this report is for people to have a better understanding of what this Christian attitude is or what these Christian attitudes are towards Punishment/Capital Punishment in relation to Christian ethics. In this report, you will learn about the history of capital punishment, the different Christian groups against Capital Punishment and what the Bible says about it as well, all in relation to Christian ethics.
It is important to note that retribution (i.e. justice) is not the same thing as revenge or vengeance. Retributive justice is meant as an act by society to correct a harm done against society, in this case murder, whereas revenge or vengeance is an individual act to right a wrong done by one individual against another.
Holiness, sin, and life are repeatedly questioned throughout John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, particularly by the former preacher, Jim Casey. As a preacher, Casey only preaches what the bible states and he resigns from his occupation after he feels the urge to pursue life's true meaning and values of the individual - basically to make sense of the world he resides in. Casey closely resembles the character and motives of Jesus Christ, as he is enthused to uncover the answers to his wonders and doubts and begins to hold new beliefs of sacrificing the self to sustain the rights of society.
If we look at the beliefs of Christianity, its subjects believe that God will see something that is frowned upon thus closing their chance at heaven upon becoming deceased, or even lead to certain consequences in the near future known as karma. Though it is not proven that there is a heaven or God, many hold strong to their beliefs on the subject, though they cannot see said upper hand.. Due to the belief that God is watching, his believers know that committing sin (such as adultery and wrath) is such a move that could potentially be “frowned upon.” However, they also have the choice of going to confe...
The way God punished Satan seems like the most evident thing to do, but the way He punished Adam and Eve for eating from the tree can be questioned and seen as harsh and unfair, but it shouldn’t b...
In the bible it is said that we should treat others as we would like to be treated, and when I would hurt someone physically or mentally I would be disobeying what the bible said. If I am to get revenge on others, what happens when they get revenge on me, will it ever stop or would it have been easier to just walk away and no say anything or let it bothered me. Now that I’m in college I feel that revenge comes in different forms. Now instead of hurting others I am in for taking revenge on the basketball floor.