Archetype In Salvation On Sand Mountain

Dennis Covington was not biased when it came to writing Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia. Covington did not have a preconceived notion or bias towards snake handling. Prior to Covington's involvement with the snake handlers, he was in a spiritual place in his life were he was not for or against snake handling. When Covington was assigned to cover the Reverend's trial, he did not come with the intention of becoming a member of the snake handling community. The book represents his experience as a snake handler and his spiritual journey on Sand Mountain. There is undeniably a sheer strangeness with the snake handling practices. Before reading the book, I was unaware that snake handling was used

Dennis Covington writes about a unique method of worship—snake handling, in his memoir, Salvation on Sand Mountain. He begins as a journalist, looking in on this foreign way of life; however, as time progresses he increasing starts to feel a part of this lifestyle. As a result loses his journalistic approach, resulting in his memoir, detailing his own spiritual journey. Upon the conclusion of his stay in this world, Covington realizes the significance of this journey, and argues in his memoir that we cannot entirely know ourselves until we step outside of our comfort zone and separate ourselves from our norm.

In almost every book you read, you will find that someone always has to go on some sort of journey or quest (Rice). If you examine each quest closely, you will notice that they are all very similar (Rice). When things are used repeatedly like that, they are said to have an archetypal pattern (Rice). The quest on which all these heroes go on is referred to as the archetypal quest (Rice). “The Wizard of Oz” focuses on a small-town girl living in Kansas. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” focuses on an arrogant king who rules the city of Uruk. The Wizard of Oz and The Epic of Gilgamesh were written 5000 years apart, but they both contain the elements that make them archetypal quests.

In Homers epic poem “The Odyssey” there are many archetypes, many of which were the origin of the archetype. An archetype is a character type, place, or symbol, every culture shares. In “The Odyssey” Homer uses archetypes to evoke meaning to the story. Some examples of archetypes in “The Odyssey” are the temptress, and the father-son conflict.

Award-winning journalist, Lee Strobel wrote The Case for Christ to retrace and enlarge his journey toward becoming a Christian. Strobel once atheist, and now Christian, shares how he began to look upon the Bible and God. As an atheist, Strobel lived the life of selfishness and only worried to please himself. When his wife began to go to church he wasn’t very pleased until after he saw the positive and attractive change in her. This is the start of his curiosity and investigation about Christianity. He wanted to understand what changed her like this. He wanted to relate with his wife so he decided to study about this and attend church services with her. Strobel began his journey and interviewed thirteen leading scholars who defended their views concerning the historical reliability of the New Testament. Strobel splits the case for Christ into three basic sections: Examining the Record, Analyzing Jesus, and Researching the Resurrection.

Power is an important part of this process as possessing power creates a divide between the snakes and the handlers: one that increases the trust between the human and the unpredictable animal. Throughout the book and the film, it was noted that if the snakes happened to bite, then that what was the Holy Spirit wanted, and everything is just as it should be (HGP). Through Covington’s account of the Summerford trial, it became clear that power was something that was sought over, and that people were willing to risk their entire lives to achieve that. In the case of Darlene Summerford, the wife of the accused Glenn Summerford, she stated that one of the reasons why she participates in the snake handling rituals is due to the possession of power (DC: 41) According to Summerford, possessing the knowledge that you have control over the snakes is something that keeps the snake handlers of the Pentecostal church to keep coming back for more (DC: 41). Power in this context was also demonstrated in the film, The Holy Ghost People. For instance, the people who were experiencing the most feeling and sensation of the Holy Spirit throughout the service were the ones who were looked up to and thought of as more powerful, because of the presence that was within them coming from the Holy Spirit itself (HGP). Overall, this notion of power and how

With every corner we turn in today’s culture, we become more and more aware of the archetypes that surround us. Archetypes are the works of a typical character, situation, setting, or symbol that can be found in fantasy and reality. An example would be the renowned medieval story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Pearl Poet. The author permeates the story with situational, symbolic, and character archetypes that illustrate the profound life of Sir Gawain. Sir Gawain was apprehensive of his journey at first, but as time passes, he began to make choices that unveils to the audience the true flawed knight that he was.

Dennis Covington’s Salvation on Sand Mountain begins by focusing on the trail of Glenn Summerford. This creates a great stir in the small town of Scottsboro, Alabama, and what begins as a typical journalist seeking a hot story on an uncommon subject turns into something more. In some ways, Covington goes on a personal quest to further understand faith, though this is something that is not directly or explicitly stated in the novel. A large part of the book focuses on the snaking handling experience; and chronicles the untypical, mysterious, even strange, rural people who live in a small town in the Southern Appalachia and who devoutly believe in this religion. Once the pastor, Glenn Summerford, is convicted of trying to kill his wife with snakes from the church, the Church of Jesus with Signs Following becomes the spotlight of controversy and intense public scrutiny. However, as the novel progresses, the reader sees that the Salvation on Sand Mountain is really a story about Covington exploring the human condition, this strange religion, and his own soul.

Dennis covington quest on finding himself after the war begins in a small church in Alabama. While he is searching for his quest he encounters a snake handling church where he finds what he has been looking for ever since he got back from El Salvador. He finally found himself “ In those two years, I had been drawn by chance and inclination into a close relationship with the handlers. I had come to admire them and to respect their faith. In the process, I had even taken up serpents myself (Covington 213)”. But when he handled the snake he finally felt the adrenaline as he felt while being shot at in war. Dennis said “ I knew that I had a need to experience ecstatic worship,

An archetypal hero must have specific characteristics before embarking on a quest. For example many heroes, experience some sort of traumatic event during childhood. In the movie Star Wars IV: A New Hope the archetypal hero Luke Skywalker experiences the

Archetype refers to a generic version of a personality. Archetypes are continually present in folklore and literature for thousands of years, including prehistoric artwork. The identification of archetypes in literature is to primarily find the behaviors and characteristics of the main protagonist, it is important to discover the ambiguity of how the traits change and develop throughout the rising

He had been given one of the greatest opportunities anyone can have in life, to witness to others about what Christ has done in their life. In obedience, Colson told the truth while at court, witnessing to others about what Christ had done in his life. But not only did he witness to others in court, he also witnessed to those he met in prison. While humbly serving his time in jail, Colson was able to make a magnificent impact on inmate’s lives, through Jesus. But the liberation date of Chuck Colson was not the end of his story. He later went on to become an evangelical leader, who founded Prison Fellowship and BreakPoint. Without Colson’s past, he would not have had his future in mistering to

He believes that Covington should have stayed as an outsider to the religion and the people; not necessarily presenting himself as a complete outsider to the practices, but also not becoming so immersed in the church and its ethics as it did. After attending the church and learning more about the practices, Covington ended up researching his own background and finding ties to snake-handling in his lineage, bringing an emotional and personal connection of his own to the practice. At this point in the novel, it becomes clear that the book isn’t as much a research piece as it is a tale of self-discovery for Dennis

Countless quest narratives – ranging from modern texts all the way back to ancient texts – have all conformed to a certain archetypal structure. Christopher Vogler writes:

I was raised in central Texas—in the Bible Belt; I grew up in the church. An evangelical fervor captured my family. Its grip delivered all of us from sin—except for me. I was different, not quite like the others and often chastised. I shared a distant kinship with my surroundings.