In “Go tell it on the mountain” James Baldwin works with themes of hatred, separation, religion. He does this through John, Elizabeth and the church. The author is saying that John hated his father and Elizabeth was detached from her family in the end they both came to church to seek spiritual guidance. John disliked his father. He was upset about his father “John watched and listened, hating him.”(43) He was disgusted about Gabriel for his hypocrisy “No one, none of the saints….
The repetition of “chartered” emphasises the fact that the government’s oppression reached everywhere, and is used to highlight the social inequalities of the time. Repetition is used again, as Blake hears “every cry…every voice…every ban”. This repeat of the word “every” draws attention to the terrible poverty experienced by the poor; his use of the metaphor “mind forged manacles” is particularly disturbing. Manacles are chains formed from molten iron; the idea that these chains could be placed on someone’s mind suggests that nobody was allowed to speak out against the oppression - they were trapped inside their own minds. Blake then goes on to condemn the hypocrisy taking place; the fact that even though the church “appalls” against the child abuse taking place, it does nothing to
Tom shows when he cheat the devil by saying he is a church goer. “ He prayed loudly strenuously, as if Heaven were taken by force of lungs” (Irving 237). Tom betrays the devil and gets himself killed by doing this in a deceiving manner. Tom makes poor choices that gets himself hurt “...the couple's miserly habits in which they “' conspired to cheat each other” (“overview”). Tom was not a good husband or a good cheater.
In “The Minister's Black Veil” Mr. Hooper, while talking to Elizabeth explains “If I hide my face for sorrow, there is cause enough...” (Hawthorne 447) In other words Mr. Hooper has no choice but to comply for his sin by wearing the veil. And in “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” Jonathan Edwards tell his congregation that hell is the place one will go if they commit a sin. Edwards describes with vivid details “ it is a great furnace of wrath a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that they are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the dammed in hell”. Saying that hell is where God will send the helpless evil
It caused deep psychological effects on everyone. Abandonment, even of friend and family members was common. Many devout believers were losing faith in God. In a letter, penned by Italian poet, Francesco Petrarch of Florence, to a friend in Avignon. He expresses his grief at losing close friends, as well as, resentment for an overly vengeful God, who would punish men not only their crimes, but also the crimes of their fathers.
The Puritans in The Scarlet Letter ironically condemn Hester by hypocritically reacting to her sin and by foolishly praising the preacher who actually committed adultery with her. Once the puritans realize Hester was pregnant, they began to condemn her and give her harsh consequences. All together they banished her from the town and tried to take her daughter away from her. These consequences were given hypocritically since the majority of the town participated in witchcraft. The town, in order to justify it's sin, acted like they actually held standards by harshly attacking Hester's sin.
Before Dimmesdale kills himself, he admits his sin to the whole town. Also, Dimmesdale receives treatment from Hester’s husband, Chillingworth, who knows their secret, and is trying to get revenge on them both. Chillingworth ends up realizing that he is going insane with trying to get revenge and believes that he has sinned more than both of them. The novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne uses satire to poke fun of the Puritan attitude toward sinning and the punishments of sinning. The reader learns from the text that the Puritan religion looked down on the idea of sin and punishes sinners harshly.
Hooper’s congregational responds to his black veil with distress and confusion. The veil instills an irrational fear into the congregation’s once rational mindset and perception of Mr. Hooper. We learn that “there was a feeling of dread, neither plainly confessed, nor carefully concealed,” spread among the congregation as a whole (26). The veil becomes a mysterious symbol for Mr. Hooper’s church members; it is abnormal and unnatural in their eyes, just as the birthmark is to Aylmer. Although Hawthorne is again somewhat ambiguous, the text suggests that Mr. Hooper’s veil is meant to symbolize the inherent sin that lies inside him (as well as the congregation).
We see a variety of responses but it is the inability of the majority to understand the roots of the plague that prevents them from undergoing personal transformation. The religious dogma that is directed towards them leaves them ignorant and inflexible their own ideas about God and their place within society for themselves. This causes many to direct their devastation and fear to misunderstood characters that disagree with societal conventions. The crazed mob that accuses the Gowdies of witchcraft exemplifies the notion that faith blinds people to reality in ‘Year of Wonder’. Faith in God is easily converted into superstition amongst the ignorance of the uneducated.
In Ode 1 of the play, another strophe of the chorus proceeds after the scene between Creon and the sentry, lamenting on Creon’s growing ignorance and pride. Prior to the strophe, Creon rebuked a sentry, claiming him responsible to the crime of Polyneices’ burial. Despite the pleads from the sentry, Creon refused to give him mercy or believe him. “How dreadful it is when the right judge judges wrong!”(1355) Creon is beginning to appear as a wrongful, unjust king and the Chorus overshadows that more conflicts will arise because of the new, proud king. The chorus warned the audience of the dreadful pride of Creon by using mostly metaphors.