Of Religion In Sherman Alexie'sThe Lone Ranger And Tonto Fist Fight In Heaven

Flannery O’Connor has long been criticized for her blatant incorporation of religious symbols into sinister, dark stories. In the short story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” the dark and apathetic Misfit is said to portray, in an allegorical sense, a Christ-like figure. However, through the interpretation of the inversions of divine characteristics, his repulsion of Christ’s very existence, and the denial of any powers beyond the observable realm, we find that the Misfit is actually representative of the Anti-Christ.

The mission school teaches the young man that killing was wrong. He falsely interpreted killing as do not kill anything including animals. In Christianity, nothing is wrong with killing animals. If you do it to fit your needs as in food, clothing, and shelter, you will be following by the rules. The young man claims “At the mission school I learned it was wrong to kill. Nine winters I hunted for the soft heart of Christ, and prayed for the huntsmen who chased the buffalo on the plains (1847).” The boy completely strays away from the culture he is born with, into the new idealism that’s spreading across the country. Instead of hunting for his family, while showing his bravery, he stays home and searches for what the mission schools taught in the 1800’s, salvation from the “savage” Native Americans culture. Yes, the boy is Native American but, the mission school slowly conforms him into the American man. The boy testifies that “With the white man's Bible in my hand, and the white man's tender heart in my breast, I returned to my own people. Wearing a foreigner's dress, I walked, a stranger, into my father's village (1847).” The modifications the boy is going through because of the mission school makes him lose his culture, and try to convert other people from his tribe to change their way of life as he is doing. This certainly leads to his father’s death

Many authors choose to use biblical allusions in their stories, but no one does it like Flannery O’Connor. Her complex but yet important allusions are very key to understanding a lot of her short stories. Especially in one of her most famous stories, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” Flannery O’Connor uses biblical allusions to allow readers to receive a deeper understanding of her short story. The Misfit’s characterization, the grandmother’s characterization, and the Timothy allusion are all major examples of these biblical allusions.

Furthermore, Hughes uses the rhetorical device of allusion when he writes about his aunt’s bringing him to the church for a special meeting. When he writes, “Then just before the revival ended, they held a special meeting for children, ‘to bring the young lambs to the fold’’’ (1), he attempts to correlate his invitation to salvation to a Biblical parable. Along with his reference to the Bible, he conveys the church member’s excitement with vivid imagery. He illustrates the church’s setting as being infuse with “all moans and shouts and lonely cries and dire pictures of hell”, and he also describes the preacher’s sermon as a “wonderful rhythmical sermon” (3). Conjointly, Hughes presents imagery of the churchgoers and alludes to a Biblical story in order to demonstrate the magnitude of the religious enthusiasm of the members of the church.

In his article, Chidester discusses the intricacy of defining religion and the role it plays in American popular culture. He does this by showing us three theoretical models: the institution of baseball, the symbolism involved with Coca-Cola, and the ritual of the gift-giving Native American potlatch as suggested in the rock ‘n’ roll song “Louie, Louie. Throughout the article, Chidester explains ways in which each model might be seen as examples of religion and its common practices. By referring to “The Church of Baseball” he compares the dedication to baseball, its followers, and its traditions to the institution of church by their supporting customs, a sense of belonging, a time of ritual, and a sacred place. “The Fetish of Coca-Cola” suggests

Throughout the stories told in both Mohawk Saint and The Unredeemed Captive, the unintended consequences of attempting to convert the American Indians to Christianity are powerful players in the unfolding events. When these Christian groups arrived in the New World, they came armed with the word of God that they wished to share among a group of people that have never before encountered the concept of Christianity. While eventually these relationships improved and Christians and American Indians began to have closer contact, there were still results from the conversion process that no one could have expected when the progress had started. In both of these stories, the unintended consequences of the encounters between Christian religious and

But our Everyman starts as a truly “fake” Christian and whether or not she deserves any redemption is questionable. Though she perishes like a martyr, as the Misfit confesses when he tuned to perpetrating evil deeds, the Grandmother responds that he should have started praying and that “Jesus would help”. Again, O’Connor’s attempt here is to present, by means of religious motifs, how superficial the faith of Southerners is. Grandmother’s advice comes out of convenience, not of genuine worship of God and is a commentary on how people turn to religion in the event of sickness, deathbed or

Life is full of boundless possibilities in order to transform a possibility into a reality, we have to choose --- sacrificing the many in order to attain the one. Nothing is gained without something relinquished. In “The Book of Romans,” composed by Apostle Paul, expresses that salvation is offered from teachings of Jesus Christ. It is described as a way to reveal depravity of the flesh. In addition, Henry Crow Dog’s “Two Bullets and Two Arrows” have always been fascinated by the presence of supernatural powers and supernatural beings. Their purpose was to act like heroes and legends who pose as warriors with great heroic actions. In S.E. Schlosser’s “John Henry: The Steel Driving Man,” John Henry was seen as the only individual who is determined to use his own strength for his goal. He was brave enough to face the extremities of a powered machinery by using his mine tools. Early Christian and American myths show that sacrifices are done to preserve the existence of humans.

The war took a toll on the beliefs of soldiers and their families as the carnage destroyed beyond recognition or even annihilated bodies. In Believing and Doubting Faust explores quintessential questions revolving round religion and humanity that lingered in the minds of Americans as they wrestled with the consequences of that destruction cause by the war. People’s beliefs may have been “powerfully challenged,” but they also became “fervently reaffirmed” as the war progressed (172). For many survivors and victims alike, death became redefined as “eternal life” (177), and heaven into an “eternal family reunion” (180). In this grim conflict a soldier’s death became to many “the vehicle of salvation” to achieve “God’s design of

Let’s talk about the world about 2,000 years ago. It was a world where the mass of people were illiterate, taxes were extremely high, and the leaders would cheat and kill to feed their ever growing need for power. We all can relate to having a good storyteller in our lives, most were read to at night by their parents or are parents themselves that read to their children. What is the purpose of storytelling? It’s simple, comfort. A good story can ease your psychological unrest as well as offer a moral purpose. Sometimes you can even relate a story to your own life and offer an explanation to something you may be experiencing. This is exactly what the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were. They told their stories of Jesus to offer comfort to their people in a time when people could not pick up a story and read it themselves. It is part of human nature to have the desire for a good story. This paper will describe several events that were written by great storytellers in the bible.

Religion is one of the main themes in her works and also in "Greenleaf." In this short story, the Southern writer exposes two of her major preoccupations about religion:

The discussion of religion really started to churn thoughts in mind. It was interesting to me how the author brought up the role of religion on the battlefield. It amazes me that conflict as far back as the civil war branched from the topic of religion

From when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 A.D. to the postmodern age, the Christian Church had varying degrees of control on Western society as an authoritative figure, dictating moral decisions and controlling mass culture. This cultural super-influence, of course, bleed into literature, music and film as well as everyday life. With the decline of believers, Jesus’ contribution to American culture has surely not shaken. The

This shows that citizens were taught to take religion seriously at an early age. Cates says that he was treated worst by the citizens than a murderer. “You murder a wife, it isn’t nearly as bad as murdering an old wives’ tale.” States Drummond, “kill one of their fairy tale notions, and they call down the wrath of God.” This further shows the public’s narrow-mindedness when exposed to opposing viewpoints.

As an author, Kurt Vonnegut has received just about every kind of praise an author can receive: his works held the same sway over American philosophy as did those of Jack Kerouac or J.R.R. Tolkein; his writing has received acclaim from academics and the masses alike; and three of his books have been made into feature films. Society has permanently and noticeably been altered by his writing. Through accessible language and easily-understood themes, Vonnegut has created works subtle, engrossing, and familiar. His main method for doing this is by exploiting a theme with which everyone is familiar and about which everyone has his own opinion: religion.