“All right then,” Huck decides in chapter 31, “I’ll go to hell,” (250). With this decision, he realizes that helping his friend is more important than a traditional rule of the church. Likewise, Huck also reforms and fine-tunes his original moral code throughout the story. Generally his code for lying from the beginning is that it’s wrong and that he shouldn’t do it. But, throughout his adventures, he realizes that sometimes it’s alright to do it and sometimes not.
O Brother Where Art Thou displays that not all life threatening experiences will change us for the better. Everette is a con man, someone who doesn’t believe in God and whenever something happens he says “There has to be a scientific explanation”. At the end when the sheriff catches the three men and is ready to kill them, Everette drops to his knees and starts praying to God, asking for forgiveness and a flood occurs. In literature a flood represents rebirth and a new beginning. Everette, and the viewers, think that his life will get better when the flood is over, that he will believe in God, leave the con life and his wife Penny will come back to him.
Unsure of what to do with the enemy soldier, Little Jess’s moral compass is tested. The young man tells Little Jess he owns no slaves and his perception of whom the enemy is alters. Even though he believes helping Roy is making him into a traitor, he continues because he likes the young soldier who never laughs at the wonderments and wishes Little Jess could never tell his older brothers. After Roy is healed and had left to travel back home, Little Jess feels as if his sins are going to make him combust. Thinking that if he goes to a Methodist meeting his sins will be washed away and he would be revived, Little Jess attendees the meeting only to just look in then leave.
His journey leads him to leave the village which is a place of light and security to the forest which is a place of darkness, dangerous and unknown destination. Brown's first step in the forest considers as a victory to the id over the superego. Brown's meeting with the old man who is the devil himself shows Brown's confusion; weather to believe the old man or not. The devil shocked Brown, when he told him that his father and his grandfather were a servant to the devil; he meant by that that is Brown's destiny too. Brown's believe that they are''…a race of honest men and good Christians… "has faded (Guerin, 303).
The Indians values clearly do not align with the morals and sets of values of Christianity. After the previous missionary finally dies, the Huron ask LaForgue how long he will stay. LaForgue says he will stay for the rest of his life and that he loves them. The Huron then ask to be baptized in hopes that it will cure them from the sickness. Father LaForgue, unlike the previous missionaries, does not lie to the Huron, and explains to them that being baptized will not cure the Huron of their sickness, but their prayers may be heard by his lord and savior Jesus Christ.
Both of these faiths do missionary work, spreading the word and teachings through their bibles. They both live with clean intentions as Mormons do not drink alcohol, caffeine, or use tobacco. In comparison one might say Jehovah Witnesses stick to their own clean lifestyle by refusing blood transfusions because in Jehovah Witnesses eyes by receiving blood it goes against what their bible approves of. This practice seems a bit far fetched but remembering the Jehovah Witnesses are considered “witnesses” they actually believe and look at death as a higher way of mortality than to receive medical assistance when needed. Most would agree that whatever is in ones bible they would adhere to because nobody wants to be considered a sinner.
This forces Goodman Brown to rethink the Devil’s tales of his forefathers. This is one case of an "unknown" brought to light by the Devil, which damages Goodman Brown’s sense of what is true because it contradicts a past thought. The "truth" of his ancestors brought by the Devil only slightly effects Goodman's faith overall because the ancestors never showed signs of evil during their lifetimes towards him. Yet this one discovery of "truth" is truly significant towards the fall of Goodman's sanity, for it leads him to believe he may have other incorrect understandings of life. This is exactly what the Devil wanted to happen because now that he has broken a truth that Goodman Brown previously had, he suddenly gains faith in the devil.
It is very unclear as to whether his experience at the witch meeting was a dream, or reality. From one viewpoint, thinking literally, one might think of his encounter as a dream, the reason for this being that the mysterious shift in everyone’s identity took place during his rest. Also he woke up in the middle of the forest and walked back home noting that everyone still exhibited their Christian faith. From another viewpoint, however, his experience could be taken as not so literal, meaning that the encounter could have been a reality. The outside world around him could have been deceiving by him still being a follower of God, and this somehow could make him seem vulnerable.
Goodman Brown Looses His Faith The story of Goodman Brown begins with a sad goodbye between the young man and his wife, Faith, as he prepares to embark on what he believes is a necessary journey. His Loving wife tries to convince him not to travel on this journey, but he begins his journey anyway, believing he can overcome any obstacles that stand in his way. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism in several ways and also incorporates several themes throughout the story. The most prominent theme that can be seen when reading the story is that of good versus evil and the loss of faith. When Goodman Brown begins his journey, he leaves his loving wife being a good Christian man.
Leo Tolstoy writes about importance of religion and family which relates to his extreme personal view on religion in the short story "The Repentant Sinner." "Lord! forgive me, as Thou forgavest the thief upon the cross." This quote shows Tolstoy's belief and knowledge of Christianity. Although this quote does not relate to his own personal life as Tolstoy was not a sinner, it may be written in the small remembrance of his father, who may have been a sinner throughout his life.