Religion In Anna Frith's 'Year Of Wonders'

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‘Year of Wonders’ is a novel that explores the impact on the life of a small village in the 1660s. The villagers of Eyam begin to question their faith because of the terrible price they must pay to contain the plague within their boundaries. They question their beliefs as the sinister side of religion becomes more apparent with the passage of time. This essay will explore how religion is used to explain why the villagers must take on the burden of quarantining their village and then how later characters such as Anna Frith questions her beliefs in God based on her observations of life in the village at this time. This essay will also explore how the villagers begin to abuse their beliefs and use them to scapegoat others. In the case of Michael…show more content…
At one point she says ‘Why, I wondered was God so much more prodigal with his Creation?’ Sitting in a churchyard, we see our heroine mourn the loss of her children and with her head leaning against the cool stone of a cross carved long-ago, she wonders about why such a cross was created. To perhaps appease a god who cared more for the sufferings of man rather than the monument dedicated in His honour. Her ponderings give way to a darker view of religion and this is the beginning of her faith crumbling as she sees flaws within those prayers. She has lost her children and so the prayers that would normally give her hope have given her confusion and represented a darker side for her to believe. In conclusion the plague year has brought many of the characters to question their beliefs. The sinister side of religion is exposed as their love of God turns to the murder of innocent people and the hatred of life. The villagers of Eyam understand their world through the teachings of religion but it apparent to characters like Anna that this is a limited way of viewing the world and it is the work of the Gowdies and Elinor Mompellion that Anna is able to continue that shines a light most brightly in the ‘Year of

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