1. A Prayer in Spring
"A germ of religious exaltation, no bigger than a mustard seed, was sown in me and left to germinate. It has never stopped growing since that day" (47). Everything started when Pi was a little baby. His Auntie Rohini took him to a temple and somehow he recollected, unconsciously, his Hindu rite of p...
Religion in Literature Religion and literature have been closely related to each other as far back as one of the oldest existing poems in the English language, Beowulf. This epic poem certainly comes from a Christianized culture, yet never names either the pagan gods or Jesus. The Beowulf poet h...
In The Life of Pi by Yan Martel, the main character discovers that in life there are many different types of religions and within each religion, there are unique sets of values and traditions. Throughout the book, we the readers, grow with Pi as he learns to appreciate each religion in a different w...
Every human being has personal beliefs ranging from simple to quite complex. In the first line of his essay, "What I Believe,"" E. M. Forester confronts the reader with the seemingly irrational statement "I do not believe in belief."" This however is not at all true. Forester is a man with many bel...
It is extremely hard to not praise someone that had that much faith in God, but on the other hand it is very hard to praise someone that was willing to kill their beloved son. ... It would be wrong to extenuate the fact that Abraham had every intention of killing his son; God doesn't want people to start thinking that it is ok to "sacrifice" your beloved son in order to prove faith. ...
Dear God, There are two views on suffering and purpose. One which is common, and similar to Christianity where suffering is the result of sin. The other is to be believed as a test faith and correct unbelief. Generally, suffering tests belief; a true Muslim will stay faithful throughout life. But s...
Comprehending Hamlet's struggle in avenging his father's death helps understand the play Hamlet. Hamlet was a true renaissance man with great qualities who struggled with fulfilling his promise to his father. This was due to his moral questions, his mother's hasty marriage, and his father's death. H...
Monsters, Humans, or Both? Are they monsters or humans? A typical question that the reader encounters as he/she reads the Old English poem, Beowulf, an epic with unknown authorship. Grendel and his mother are introduced as evil monsters and descendents of Cain. However, their ogre bodies have s...
The Alienation of Victor Frankenstein and Dr. John Faustus Victor Frankenstein and John Faustus are two characters that are alienated because of their intellectual curiosity. Faustus's and Frankenstein's pursuits of knowledge begin with an inexorable journey to their downfalls as they become alienat...
What is Puritanism? Encarta Online describes it as the : "movement arising within the Church of England in the latter part of the 16th century that sought to purify, or reform, that church and establish a middle course between Roman Catholicism and the ideas of the Protestant." But Puritanism is m...
(2) For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. (3) For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. (4) He taught me also, and said unto me, let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments and live. ...
Instances of vociferously protesting the ties of marriage, as in the case of Akka Mahadevi, or the outright refusal of marriage, as in the case of Andal and even the rejection of the fiercely imposed widowhood, with regard to the story of Mira- are all exemplified stories that that travelled through time as tales of rebellion in the name of God, the beloved. ...
Gandhi knew the path. It was straight and narrow. Gandhi believed that from his weakness he failed a thousand times, but he would not lose faith. His soul refused to be satisfied so long as it is a helpless witness of a single wrong or a single misery (Brown 3). But it was not possible for him, a weak, frail being, to mend every wrong or to hold himself free of blame for all the wrong that he saw. ...
Born and raised as a Roman Catholic, my parents tried their best to mold me not just into a kind and obedient kid but to be a girl with a strong faith in God. I remember that our apartment didn't have just one but a couple of altars. At a very young age, I was taught how to make the sign of the cross, I was given a kiddie book about the Life of Saints and a sort of children's bible and that going to Mass every Sunday was a requirement. During Christmas season, I was being brought to Church at 4 in the morning even though I'll just sleep for the whole duration of the Mass, becaus...