Sacred space is one of the types of spatial condition being analyzed by Mircea Eliade’s religious journal. It is related to purification and can only be apprehended by a religious person. According to Eliade, “For a religious man, a space is not homogeneous as he experiences interruption, breaks in it; some parts of space are qualitatively different from others” (20). He also believes that a person in a sacred space will ultimately reach a threshold that personify the frontier which distinguishes and opposes the two worlds. In this essay, I will compare and contrast the concept of sacred space in the biography of Maryam Binti Imran and Alice Kingsleigh. Miriam holds an independently exalted place in Islam as her name is exclusively mentioned …show more content…
On the other hand, Alice is the main mythological protagonist in the movie, “Alice in Wonderland”. Therefore, the life journey of Maryam and Alice are very exceptional because they revolves around the expanse of the sacred.
Interestingly, Maryam’s life span illustrates a sacred space because it was carefully structured by her mother and Allah (God) even before she existed. Her birth is the consequence of her mother’s sincere prayer to God, that if she is granted with an offspring, she will dedicate the child to His devotion. Continually protected and guided by the God, starting from her mother’s womb until she grew up, the notion of the sacred space is very unique for Maryam. As stated in the Qur’an, “Allah accepted Maryam as a result of her mother’s vow that He made her grow in a good manner and well-liked among the people. He made her accompany the righteous people, so that she will learn about righteousness, knowledge and religion” ( The Qur’an,
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She was tremendously dejected and withdrew herself from her family to avoid any embarrassment. It was at a secret place in the East Jerusalem where Maryam seek refuge, that she witnessed a hierophany, an irruption of the sacred that results in the detaching a territory from the surrounding cosmic milieu and making it qualitatively different. Allah had sent her Gabriel (the angel) in the form of a man. This occurrence is critical in Maryam’s life because it allows Maryam to communicate and express her sadness and perplexity to God. Miriam was informed that she will give birth to a child named Isa (Jesus) and he will be among those who will be blessed by God. She then underwent the pains of childbirth alone and retuned home without speaking to anyone. Dissimilarly, Alice’s experience of the sacred space reaches the threshold twice in her life. Immediately after the very first time she crossed the boundary from the rabbit hole, she was able to distinguish the sheer differences between the two worlds. Just like the concept of threshold highlighted by Eliade, “The spatial non-homogeneity finds expression in the experience of an opposition between space that is sacred- the only real and real-ly existing space- and all other space, the formless expanse surrounding it” (20). Secondly, she succeeded in killing the Jabberwocky that boiled down to
As Mary’s story unravels, she continues to suffer long hours of work, starvation, and separation from her family. She reads her holy bible and is constantly reminding herself that God is with her and will see her through these trials. Her spirits are lifted her master agrees to sell Mary to her husband, and her mistress begins the journey with her, but before long the mistress decides not to go any further and they turn back. Not long after, she starts to loose hope that she will ever be reunited with her family. She becomes discouraged, and her spirit
Religion is what you believe, what you have faith in. Many people considered it taboo; it is hard to express oneself on the subject. Authors such as Majarne Satrapi and Langston Hughes adventure themselves on this topic by writing respectively “The Veil” and “Salvation”. Both texts illustrate the control of religion by humans for their own benefit. By using a claim of solution, the authors demonstrate that one should find his own path to God. Even though they both share the same idea they approach it differently; one through politics and the other through society. Through this essay both approaches will be shown.
Mary Hightower is a self-proclaimed expert that has given herself the status as being the mother of the many children stuck in the afterlife welcoming them with open hands. At the beginning, she seems to be a good character as the story proceeds, she’s shown to be neutral and towards the end she becomes the antagonist. When Nick, Allie, and Lief first encounter Mary she appears to be just a leader to the Afterlights retaining them from harm and making sure their delighted. Allie later notices that Mary is selfish keeping the children in an endless loop and would sacrifice anything to keep them from going in peace and is constantly competing with Nick.
At the mention of the name Alice, one tends to usually think of the children’s stories by Lewis Carroll. Namely, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are two classic works of children’s literature that for over a century have been read by children and adults alike. These two stories tell the tale of a young girl named Alice who finds herself in peculiar surroundings, where she encounters many different and unusual characters. Although Alice is at the centre of both stories, each tale is uniquely different in its purpose, characters and style.
Issues concerning her size, identity, and her social exchanges with both Wonderland and its creatures spur and characterize Alice’s development towards becoming a young woman.
Alice can be very childish, but throughout the story, she encounters many animals with human qualities that make her change her perspective of the world she lives in. The main obstacle in Alice's life is growing up. As she grows up, she looks at situations in a very distinctive way, such as the moment when alice meets the March Hare, The Mad Hatter, and the Dormouse. By the time the story is over, Alice is already a grown up because of all the experiences she confronted such as, the mad tea party, the encounter with the caterpillar smoking a hookah pipe, also Alice's encounter with the Red Queen during the croquet game and the trial.
Based on the children’s literary work written by Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland is a fictional film that was directed by Tim Burton. The film is set in Wonderland inside of Alice’s dream, so viewers are able to recognize the lack of order and the fantasies of children. One of the major themes seen in the movie is childhood, specifically the development into adulthood, which is depicted in other characters besides Alice. Alice, however, is used as the primary symbol for what children in the Victorian Age should not ideally act like, since they were expected to dress properly and attain a certain level of education. Furthermore, Sigmund Freud’s dream theory and tripartite give further insight into the characters and what they represented during the Victorian Age. The id, ego, and the superego are applied to the unconscious and conscious mind states, and how the unconscious state is still somewhat available during a conscious state. In Alice in Wonderland, psychoanalysis is used to portray the Red Queen as the id, the Absolem
Mary is also struggling against a feeling of displacement. It’s ironic that the two things she places most importance on are the two things she doesn’t posses. Her parents ignore her up until their deaths and she has no friends due to a bitter
In the novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the main character, Alice, undergoes quite a change. During the time the novel was published, parts of the world were in the victorian era. The Queen at the time was Queen Victoria, in which the era was named after. During this era, knowledge, class and reason were greatly valued, and stressed. This time period ended in the year of Queen Victoria’s death. Throughout the novel, there are many ways that show how Alice begins to understand the world in adult terms, matures, and grows.
Also, the character of Alice has some interesting meaning to the story. The character of Alice may be modeled after the author Alice Munro because they have shared similar experiences between men. Apparently, the author had been through a divorce and many of the
Although many strive to avoid it, people are running into contested space moments after they open their eyes each morning. We form these walls of contested space automatically, sometimes subconsciously which comes into play as we go about life. Contested space is a generally used term; that has a fairly vague definition. However, Mary Louise Pratt In her work: Arts Of The Contact Zone expresses it use well, stating: “ I use this term to refer to social spaces where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in context of highly asymmetrical relations of power” I have personally identified contested space to be space where people or ideals collide resulting in place for each player within the situation. By
It goes without saying that everyone on earth has at least one sanctuary. For some, this place is high up in the branches of a tree, where they can touch the sky with outstretched fingertips and feign a lack of attachment to the busy world lying below. For others, this sacred place might be found in a place as close and accessible as a cubbyhole in their own home. For others still, it might be in a library, or on a quiet mountaintop, the hard pews of a church building, or even a person. I myself have found my haven to be far away and, for now, out of my reach, in a city called Wilmington in North Carolina. It is the seventh or eighth largest city in the state, but the downtown area isn’t too busy to relax and breathe in the fresh air drifting from the beach only a few miles away. It is peaceful and serene, but still bustling with just the right amount of life and activity to be always uplifting, and flawless in its own way.
Alice in Wonderland by Charles L Dodgeson (Lewis Carrol) is a classic masterpiece and example of great literature. Many people know of this book as merely a child’s tale or a Disney movie. As both were adopted from the book, many of the ideas were not. I have my own feelings and opinions of this book. Remarkable use of words and an originally creative theme and plot structure are both used in this book. The author of this novel used many hidden meanings, symbolism, and ambiguous terms to greatly describe the actual nature of the story. Many people have different views as to the type of book it is and the novel’s actual meaning. Although this book inspires many people to laugh, it also inspires them think.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, was a children’s book written by Lewis Carroll. The focus of
Spirituality plays a very sub sequential role in my personal life. First of all, spirituality helps me govern what is right and what is wrong in my life. Many of the decisions that I make everyday, I believe are a direct result of my spirituality. For as long as I can remember I have been raised to believe that I should live my life the way God would want me to live it. Therefore, whenever I have a decision to make, I have to consider, what is right? And what is wrong? Second of all, it also helps me to feel more secure about what will happen to my spirit once my life here on earth is over. I believe that there is a better place for our spirits once we leave this earth.