Religion And Death In Emily Dickinson's Abiah Root

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In Emily Dickinson’s both letters to Abiah Root, she puts forth her mature opinions about religion and death and the eternity of living that serve as a window into her development as a poet into her later works surrounding the theme of death. At a young age, Emily Dickinson struggles with her feelings around Christianity and salvation as she writes to her friend, Abiah Root, who is also going through a transition in her faith. Dickinson grapples with her conflicting feelings around not being Christian and still hoping to get into heaven and see Abiah in the afterlife. Dickinson goes on to express her anxiety around the eternity of life and how she believes death will feel like a “relief to so endless a state of existence” even though she struggles