One of the most religious aspects of the poem is the Albatross; many believe it to symbolize Christ. "The realm Coleridge is describing is one of primitive superstition, beyond will or rational judgment, we might also refer to it as a realm of dream-(Punter). Much like the incident where Mariner senselessly slays the bird, in the Bible man crucifies Christ whose perfection is unchallenged. We as people believe in our own folklores, and superstitions to such a drastic point that all commonsense and decencies are lost to these beliefs, which is a point that Coleridge tries to get across. In the theories of the Bible, even Christ, who represents people's one chance at achieving Heaven, people continued to persecute him. In the poem, the Albatross is the sailors' one chance at rescue from an icy death and the Mariner shoots him. At this same point in the poem, the theme of guilt is apparent, "Major theme of the poem is guilt and punishment, and this reflects aspects of Coleridge's own pathology as an opium-addict and a man of notoriously unreliable habits-(Punter). The stanzas after the Mariner killed the Albatross, a feeling of guilt, and emptiness comes across him. "The essence of the poem is a private sense of guilt, intense out of all proportions to public rational standards-(Harding). As he waits for death in the frigid water, an immense feeling of anguish and guilt comes across him over the death of his shipmates and the Albatross. .
The poem has relations to the Bible not only with symbolic people and objects, but also with locations. In the poem, the descriptions of events and the landscape of the South Pole seems to symbolize Hell. There is no visible wind in which to propel the ship of the unfortunate crew towards the South Pole. Rather, a supernatural force seems to pull them there. This is much like the sins caused by temptations that we as people are bombarded with in life which lure us to Hell.
