Intro: There are many biblical allusions in Their Eyes Were Watching God, but the analysis that I am going to present delves the higher meaning of a simple three word phrase that is traditionally overlooked by readers. “Old as Methusalem” Now before I go into the aspects of this quote as they pertain to Their Eyes Were Watching God, it is important to have a quick overview of who this biblical allusion refers to. CLICK According to Infoplease.com, Methusalem is a figure from the Hebrew Bible who lived to be older than any other biblical figure at the age of 969.
Jonathan Edwards’s “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” was a very persuasive sermon in its time for accentuate reasons. The lecture was targeted at an audience of a sinning lifestyle. The people were limited to a small amount of intellectual knowledge on religion. The listeners possessed little opportunity to form other opinions on the matter. This was crucial to Edwards in persuading their thoughts and even values.
Recalling the key images of: wickedness heavy as lead, earth ready to spew out the sinner, the black clouds of God wrath, the dammed waters of God’s wrath, the bent bow of God’s wrath, and the sinner-as-spider held by God over the fire (p.107). All six of these separate metaphors have coherence and become explicated tied to the congregation with the following and applied physical principle. Overall the passage of fire and brimstone alludes to God’s wrath and to persuade those into repentance. The achievement of this passage, commands to visualize the world and lake of sulfur, leading into images of suffering. In his blunt manner, this concept of hell and suffering recalls of Edwards’ style of writing, illustrating Lockean use of language.
Rhetorical Analysis: Sinners on the Hand of an Angry God Listeners: There were two prominent movements occurring in the time period corresponding to the deliverance of Edward’s sermon. The first movement was the Enlightenment period, which brought emphasis and attention on science over God. However, as the Enlightenment period went on during this time, it was noticeable that Christianity was suffering. The Enlightenment movement was counteracted with the second movement of the time, the Great Awakening, which brought back the focus of people to religion and God. The immediate audience was to the Puritans (or the women in the church), which we discussed in class.
Imagery is a literary device that is seen in all the selection, due to the way Jonathan Edwards preached and described. Imagery is when the author uses words to create a visual picture in the reader’s mind. Since Edwards mostly talked about the eternal wrath, fire, flames, everything having to do with hell, imagery took a great part on the reader’s mind while reading. Some examples are “…it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath…”
Figurative language can be a compelling factor in literary works ranging from romantic poetry to political speeches. It forces the reader, or listener, to visualize and understand what the author is trying to say. Jonathan Edwards utilized this writing technique in his powerful sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Edwards used imagery, metaphors, and personification to express his differentiating attitudes towards both sinners and God which consisted of complete disgust in regards to the former and unwavering respect for the latter. Jonathan Edwards relied more on the composition of his writing rather than the execution of it which is why figurative language is found so often in this sermon.
Literary Analysis-Compare and Contrast The way an author conveys a message can more dimensions to the message. “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, and “The Ministers Black Veil” by Nathanial Hawthorne, both convey similar messages in very different ways. “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” was a six-hour sermon written by a preacher to evoke fear into his congregation and “The Minister’s Black Veil” was a fictional, short story that gave the same effect but was over the minister’s lifetime.
Throughout this novel, sin is shown numerous times each with a unique connection to the other, that derives a deeper meaning of the theme. An example of sin first occurs in chapter four, when the Big Ghost reconnects with a spirit named
Take, for example, Edward’s relation between the wrath and a bow and arrow; again mentioning that it is only held back by God’s pleasure and can be released at any time, conveying to the listener that they can be struck at any time if they continue on the sinful path they are on. Another example is his comparison between great rivers behind a flood gate and God’s wrath; this paints an image in the listener’s mind of the amount of power that can build against someone due to the continuation of sin. “If God should only withdraw his hand from the flood gate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God would rush forth….” These pictures that are painted throughout the sermon allow the powerful forces at hand to have a visual image to better relay how terrifying God’s wrath can be towards sinners. Words don’t always make a difference, but a picture can make the words have a reality to
Today 's world is compact with many different types of religions; from spiritualism to Christianity, our society seems to be divided regardless of the beliefs and outcomes. However, the one thing we all unite under is the precarious thought of the afterworld and what actually happens when our life clock stops ticking. We further unite under the desire to find deep, meaningful words to hit us emotionally, whether it be about persevering or education. Those words, nonetheless, rarely ever affect us in the mind-blowing way we strive for them to. On the other hand, when someone stumbles across a saying that truly enhances or changes the way we behave, it typically is discovered during a church service, while reading a novel, or even while passing by some stranger on a busy sidewalk.
The image of the “gates of heaven” is meant to symbolize a life that is devoted to God. Furthermore, it represents "the right path" that one should follow. If everyone followed this path, the world as a whole would be a better place. Quite often, some individuals choose to use another path to get what they desire and this path may not be pleasant for everyone. The image of the “gates of hell” is meant to symbolize how people can turn to violent conduct, thinking that they would be able to get what they want immediately.
The demon who tears the sinners apart is a significant symbol in this canto. This demon denotes God's justice and punishment, which is inflicted upon sinners for their misdeeds. The tearing apart of sinners signifies the fragmentation and division resulting from their discordant behaviour. The river of blood in the bolgia symbolizes the sinners' discordant behaviour and the blood they spilt during their lifetime. The sinners wade through blood as a constant reminder of the harm they caused to
The symbols conveys the theme that people need to repent for their sins so that they can
In Dante’s Inferno, Dante Alighieri's depiction of Satan at the bottom of hell reveals the theme that in Hell the punishment is always befitting of the due to the fact that the lower you go, the farther that person is from god. The picture of Satan satisfies the reader because he shows that he is the opposite of god and that he is full of evil. Lucifer is the demon in the circles of hell which he has three faces, and bat like wings in which he creates the cold wind where the sinners suffer. “The face in the middle was red, the color of anger. The face on the right was white blended with yellow, the color of impotence.
2. Water in the Old Testament In the Old Testament, we see water rightly at the creation story. The first mention of water is found in Genesis, where it is said: “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the water”. Furthermore, in Genesis, it says: “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures”.
