The Mariner Fog

Society has always pressured individuals to meet its unrealistically high expectations and those who did not meet the standards were frequently ostracized and labeled as outcasts. In The Scarlet Ibis, James Hurst presents the idea of society manipulating Brother’s perception, which is evident because of Brother rejecting Doodle’s differences and forcefully pressuring Doodle to behave normally. This inevitably results in Doodle to succumbing to the unwanted pressure from his brother to integrate into the norm. Doodle’s family’s perspective on his disability was also molded and influenced by the unreal expectations set by society. The symbolism present in the story was heavily used to represent Doodle’s struggles throughout his journey.

“The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane is a short story included in The Norton Introduction to Literature. In it, we embark on the journey of four men, whose ship has sunk and are now adrift. The characters fight for survival throughout the whole tale, trying to withstand nature. As the story passes, they realize that nature is indifferent and uncaring. Moreover, they begin to question the existence of God. Ultimately, three of the men survive and one of them dies. Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” shows the struggle of men attempting to understand nature and desiring to survive against this invincible and indifferent force. I will analyze literary elements of character, plot, and symbol, using Literary Naturalism to demonstrate this constant conflict between man and nature that plays out in “The Open Boat.”

In the poem beach burial Slessor writes with soft elusive words in a solemn, muted tone of quiet. He uses long descriptive sentences that are heavy and slow like the lifeless bodies that Slessor describes … no rhyming gives it a cheerful or light-hearted quality and no abrupt sentences give any false impressions of life.

Using the senses of seeing, feeling, and hearing in The Rise of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Coleridge demonstrates the use of many sensory details. The appearance of the Ancient Mariner, the Nightmare Life-in

In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", a man is confronted and stopped by an old Mariner. The Mariner tells a tale of getting his ship stick in ice and fog. He speaks of an Albatross that had been flying around the ship the entire time it was stranded in the ice. The Mariner then shoots the Albatross who the crew had befriended, thus clearing the ice and fog. The crew believed at first that the Mariner was cruel to shoot the bird but later changed their minds when the fog and ice dissipated.

The Mariner’s tale suggests a larger lesson about human life, expressing that humans are not superior to the rest of Creation and nature. Humans and all other life are equal inhabitants on planet Earth and must therefore treat each other with respect

He wonders why the birds are just waiting in the sky as if they are waiting for a command, why they are restless, and he thinks it is strange that they are little birds and they are the type of the birds that normally keep to their own territory and don’t have a history of attacking people . When he looks out toward the coast, he sees the birds flocking in his direction and he believes that for some odd reason, they are going to come down to the

It eventually turns out that those bars of prison are the shadows of Death’s dead and dying ship, but does this not allude to the approaching change in life that the Ancient Mariner suffers? He becomes trapped in life, to wander the earth forever, spreading his story--a prison of freedom, a cell made out of eternal life. A curse disguised as the world’s greatest blessing. He goes further to describe the boat when he says the line, “Are those her ribs through which the Sun/ Did peer, as through a grate?” This is, on one level, merely continuing the same vein of interpretation as mentioned before, both veins. But on another level, it describes the weariness of the Ancient Mariner, and the old and eaten-away shape his body has taken on over the years--his ribs sharp and bony against even the baggy of rags.

They were all as good as dead until the Albatross gave them luck and led them out of their inevitable grave. The Mariner upheaved this natural course by shooting him down. If the bird hadn’t shown up in the beginning, the crew of 201 people would have died anyways. Instead, to balance out this disturbance everyone died except the Mariner and the bird around his neck, to symbolize his wrongdoings and the guilt that suffocates around him. By keeping the Mariner alive, he is punished and lives on forever in a metaphysical state. By this point in the story, everything is balanced out except for the Albatross’ untimely death. Without the bird, who would guide the way for lost souls? This is answered by the Mariner. When he returns to land, he seems to be set on a mission in which he soars from place to place and guides the way for the astray and

He illustrates his belief that he does not need the good luck of the Albatross. He decides to severe his bonds with the universal cycle of life and love. Following the execution of the Albatross, the Mariner’s luck suddenly changes. He experiences the punishment that comes with the moral error of killing the Albatross. The punishment is isolation and alienation from everything but himself. Thereafter, the "Nightmare," the life in death, kills his crew. He is lost at sea, left alone in the night to suffer, and he has detached from his natural cycle. The Mariner proclaims his misery when he says, "Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! / And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony". To the Mariner, nature has become foreign. The execution of the Albatross causes physical and spiritual decay.

As the ghost ship nears, a spell is cast upon the ship and all of the mariner's young crew fall dead. The mariner is able to see the souls of his crew leave their bodies and it is at this point which he begins to feel remorse and guilt. "and every soul, it passed me by, like the wiz of my cross-bow!" (Coleridge 222). the mariner now knows that it was his actions that caused this and must take accountability for what he has done. Coleridge's use of the word "bow" in this quote is very important. It shows that now he does feel remorse for killing the bird because he feels it was as if his own bow killed those men. As the mariner begins to accept all f this information, he begins to realize that this is not his home. This is the home of nature and because he is a guest on these waters, he should appreciate it. "the many men, so beautiful! And they all dead and lie: and a thousand slimy things lived on; and so did I." (Coleridge 236). Now that the mariner has taken responsibility for his actions, he looks to God for forgiveness. Through prayer, he tries to ask for forgiveness but knows that in order to reach it, he must first repent. "I looked to heaven, and tried to pray; but or ever a prayer had gusht, a wicked whisper came, and made my heart dry as dust." (Coleridge 244).

It is only when the Mariner began to bless all living things and saw beyond his own self that the Albatross fell off. He then felt a connection with nature and God, for Heaven sent down rain that refreshed the ancient Mariner and angelic spirits led him onward. He needed to change and become penitent before he could be rid of the guilt. In repenting, he was given a penance of life: whenever his heart burns within him, he must tell his tale to those who are meant to hear it.

The lines that follow deal with death and punishment.  Part 3, describes how the sailors' "throats unslaked, with black lips baked, We could nor laugh nor wail; Through utter drought all dumb we stood!  I bit my arm, I sucked the blood, And cried, A sail! A sail! "  Then all the shipmates die "Four times fifty living men, (And I heard nor sigh nor groan) With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, They dropped down one by one."  And so the ancient mariner was "Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea!  A never a saint took pity on My soul in agony."  He sat

Four varying viewpoints exist concerning what or who the mariner represents, the first being the superficial idea that he is simply the wise old man who imparts wisdom to the younger generations (Williams 1116). Going beyond the literal connotation, the most common and supported argument it that the mariner represents the Christian sinner. The diction chosen by Coleridge often alludes to Christianity, examples include “Christian soul”, ”God’s name”, “[i]nstead of the cross…about my neck was hung”, and “Dear Lord in Heaven” (Coleridge 1616-1632). Howard Creed believes that the mariner is symbolically a poet, due to the fact that he learns “the great truth about the world they live in” and then attempts to communicate it to others through the art of a story (221). The final possibility is that the mariner represents a mother. Repeated connection to conventionally female things like the sea, motherhood, spontaneity/irrationality, and nature begins to support this conclusion. The role of instructing the young, in this case the wedding guest whom “listens like a three years’ child” is also traditionally female, further developing the argument (Coleridge 1616). Overall, the poem is an exemplar at employing Coleridge’s idea of symbol to use the ordinary to show the transcendent, especially Christianity, yielding that the second option is the preeminent choice.

By killing the albatross, the Mariner sets in motion Christianity’s idea that all except Jesus are sinners, but through repentance one can seek forgiveness and ultimately salvation. However, Coleridge poses a dichotomy regarding the transparency of forgiveness in this ballad. After the Mariner blesses the snakes, the reader presumes the curse was lifted and forgiveness was granted. Although the “Albatross fell off, and sank Like lead into the sea” (288-91), the Mariner was compelled to serve a long-term penance of continually repeating his tale, also serving as a constant reminder of his sin. Where as Christianity teaches that by repenting one achieves forgiveness, Coleridge enacts the idea of retribution in order for the Mariner to ultimately attain God’s forgiveness. For example, one of nature’s punishments taunts the Mariner with extreme thirst, causing him to cry out: