The Ramist Logic of Edward Taylor's Upon a Spider Catching a Fly

In Chaim Potok’s novel The Chosen, specifically chapter 9, Potok was able to symbolically delineate Reuven and Danny’s lives with a reference to a spider entrapping a fly. To start off, Potok introduced the spider in the allegory as Reb Saunders. When Reuven noticed what was going on near him, he recalled seeing the spider and saying, “A spider had spun a web across the corner of the upper rail, and there was a housefly trapped in it now… the spider, a small, gray, furry-looking spider, with long, wispy legs and black eyes, move across the web toward the fly” (Potok 173-174). Reb Saunders can be seen as the spider from mainly the physical characteristics of it as well as the actions. For example, when Reuven describes the spider having “black eyes” and “gray, furry-looking”, Reb Saunders falls under all of those features.

When, much to his surprise, he discovers how the lake in the woods was still the same, how the bedroom still smelled of lumber, how the girls were still fifteen, as if “no years have gone by” and the only thing that changed was the man. That it is his son who sneaks out in the morning to the sweet outdoors now, who explores the streams, who gazes with childish awe at the thunderstorms, who runs out in joy and relief to go swimming in the rain. And that it is time to move on and realise that he can’t relive those moments as the figurative ‘right’ to do so, has moved on to the next generation. That in this moment he can only be the father, no longer the son. “The Brown Wasps” has the writer experiencing sorrow and despair due to a place, that is primary to his being, being non-existent and thus, the essay focuses more on the effects of time on the world around the man, rather than the man

Personally, I am sympathetic to Paul Taylor’s idea that people should respect for every living organism. From his book “Respect for Nature”, he proposes a definition of environmental ethics called Biocentric Individualism. It basically means that humans are not superior to any living organisms. Humans are a part of nature, so humans should have moral relations and connections with every living organism in the world. Thus, human’s obligations, actions and responsibilities should be often determined with respect to those relations and connections. Moreover, he suggests that every organism has intrinsic value such as unique biological functions or natural goals. To maintain a good natural system, organisms have to contribute and function together. Hence, all organisms should have equal inherent worth.

Edwards compares man and his righteousness to insects to demonstrate the unworthiness and insignificance of man. “The God that holds you over the pits of Hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over a fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked:”. In this imagery, Edwards tells how the only thing keeping humanity from Hell is God holding them in His hand. However, God’s wrath is also depicted, as Edwards describes God holding them as if they were loathsome bugs or spiders. This emphasizes the huge size of God’s wrath, as generally people do not like bugs and would gladly throw them in fire. This stresses the dangerous situation humanity is in, saying that they are all hanging by a string over Hell and would cause the audience to repent and seek salvation. “… all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of Hell, than a spider's

In “Sinners”, Edwards employs metaphors and imagery to show how God can unleash his fury upon the world. The author mentions how the reader is as safe from the ultimate being’s wrath as “much as a spider… over a fire”. (Sinners 89) The quote is a metaphor for the audience to comprehend there is no safety as the Lord will eventually hold nothing back. Furthermore, he calmly expresses the reader

In essence, it is clear that Edwards’ tone, imagery, and figurative language had a great impact on his Puritan audience. By using these three literary devices Edwards was able to appeal to their fear and pity. Throughout the text he uses very loaded language to prove his points and persuade the reader to follow God. All in all, Edwards believes that without God you are

“Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering... ” (Edwards 122). Here he is giving very vivid imagery. He is showing that unconverted men, or people not reborn again, are walking a very thin line to an unpleasant afterlife. “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked:his wrath towards you burns like fire...:” (Edwards 123). In this metaphor Edward does a perfect job of comparing a spider to them. He is saying that they unworthy, like a spider, and that they are worthy of nothing else but the fire. “You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it… and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment…” (Edwards 124) In the section Edwards is trying to have the crowd imagine themselves hanging by a very small thread, with nothing to help them. Nothing in the moment can help them with their fate, and it has already been decided what will happen to them. To sum it up, Edward’s sermon is filled with an abundance of imagery to frighten listeners into seeking God and avoiding

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is one of the most potent and impactful orations of the 18th century. In his sermon, Jonathan Edwards, a major driving force behind the Great Awakening, sought to turn his congregation away from their wicked ways brought on by the world around them. To do this, he instructed them in how to more closely follow the plan for eternal life laid out for them by God (Edwards 394). Edwards used many literary devices to make this point; however, in this paper, I will attempt to prove that his use of metaphors had the greatest impact on his audience. I believe metaphors are one of the best ways to teach religion, because it is such a difficult topic to discuss. Moreover, most of Edward’s audiences were not classically trained theologians and a good portion was not even literate. Because of this lack of knowledge, many pastors at the time had to use terms that would be familiar to even the layman listening. By using metaphors, such as comparing our ability to save ourselves from damnation to a spider’s web stopping a falling rock, even an illiterate religious neophyte could understand the point Edwards is trying to make (Edwards 395).

Then he said that you are held, "as one holds a spider ... You hang by a slender thread". Being essentially the same images, the spider and the sinner are analogous, and the thread and the hand function similarly. Edwards called attention to the precarious situation of the spider and the man on the hand. This similarity further emphasizes the topic that Edwards chose.

In Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold, Edward Taylor uses a ‘wasp’ to illustrate the body of a woman. This wasp endures a “Bear that breathes a Northern blast” (Taylor l. 1), and the ‘Northern blast’ is a representation of the attitude that one possesses without the amicable love of God. The wasp “out extends/Unto the Sun, in great desire/To warm her digits at the fire.” (Taylor ll. 8-10), meaning the wasp wants to be embraced by the grace and salvation of God himself. The wasp eventually receives enough of the warm embrace of the Sun (in this case, the love and salvation of God), and is able to maneuver and fly home in a gleeful manner, all thanks to the glory of God. An argument could be made that the wasp using the Sun to warm itself up is similar in comparison to how human beings want to be under the warm embraces of God as well,

I have read material from many different authors and although I enjoyed most of them, I have to say that my two favorites were Edward Taylor and Anne Bradstreet. Both of these authors are Puritans, and it is easy to tell when reading their pieces. Puritans typically write in simple language, and always refer to God. Edward Taylor created a powerful analogy in his piece, Upon a Spider Catching a Fly. The analogy that he describes is an analogy between people and Satan. The spider represents the devil, who is manipulative and wants to trap people in his web of sin. The wasp represents someone who is strong in their faith and does not let themselves get trapped in

Taylor use the ideal of perfectionism and the denial of sin to exaggerate his view of having a loving relationship with God in order to reach heaven. Moreover, Edward Taylor uses his abilities to make conceits to which he constantly refers to in his poems and makes them interesting and mentally appealing literary works. Nevertheless, Taylor never shared his work with publishers because his main purpose was to genuinely express his feeling to towards the valuable relationships he procreated. Equally important, Jonathan Edwards wrote most of his work during the time period of the Great Awakening. Edward’s writing was meant to preach about everlasting life in order to help lost Puritans establish a loving relationship with God. He did so by often depicting God as a stern, harsh, and sometimes furious character who wanted to bring them back to his glory but was also not shy from condemning the Puritans to hell. Edward’s audience was broad in spectrum and he had to appeal to a growing populations of Puritans while still being effective and motivating. Today, the Puritan religion is completely extinct from religious practice. Although its’ member have completely diminished, the legacy left behind by many of it’s

In Respect for Nature, Paul Taylor develops the following four elements of the biocentric outlook on nature:

David Livingstone Smith’s essay “Less Than Human” explores the topic of dehumanization and allows us to understand how it has changed the society in the past and continues to do so. The essay talks about how humans are able to belittle each other and hurt one another as it is a norm in this world now. To better understand his essay and his meaning behind it we must first analyze his purpose, audience, evidence, arrangement, implications and his word choice.

The mobs that abandon the old man are very fickle. Just as fans are in reality, they desert one fad for another. The lady spider is a new fad, and the old man suddenly seems ordinary in comparison to her.