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Essay on Salvation on Sand Mountain by Dennis Covington

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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. It is almost as if Covington was in a dream or some sort of trance throughout this whole experience. He begins as a …show more content…

Allowing himself to be pulled into this world says a lot about the author’s character: it is almost as if he is vulnerable, and this vulnerability in some cases can be seen as a weakness. However, this vulnerable act allowed him to find himself and strengthen his previous beliefs and attitude. According to Aristotle, authors have an ethical obligation to have a strong ethos: this entails authors to have intelligence, rectitude, and goodwill, and Covington expresses this throughout his entire memoir. Even though, at the beginning he does not understand their behavior, and after he is embarrassed and virtually kicked out of the society, he is able to write the truth about the handlers with the utmost respect. Yes, he exposes many aspects of the handlers’ lives, but he does so in a respectful and journalistic manner: it is clear that the information he divulges is essential to the reader understanding the true meaning of his argument. The author does not purposely try to portray these people in the best light possible, but rather the most ingenuous way. He demonstrates his goodwill by remaining impartial during most of the memoir: occasionally he allows his emotions to effect his depiction of the characters; however, this is almost impossible to achieve, because he interacted with these people and was reacting to certain situations.
Covington writes this memoir for many reasons: he writes in order publicize this exclusive

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