Simoné McGauthaJonas CopeClose Reading 113 February 2013The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Analysis Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” is about a man on a voyage by ship, who in one impulsive and heinous act changes the course of his life – and death. The Mariner faces an inner struggle over the crime he has committed, and must understand his actions and perform his penance. He must also learn to abandon his negative views and openly accept all of Gods’ creatures. The voyage now becomes a journey of learning important lessons in accountability, acceptance, forgiveness, and repentance; at least this is what is on the surface of the poem. After digging a little deeper and taking into consideration my religion, I got a more intimate meaning from the poem. In Christianity, we are challenged to abandon the ways and teachings of the world in order to learn and adopt the teachings of Christ. We never stop battling sin even after we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior of our life. It’s a constant daily struggle; however it’s usually a huge turning point in our life that persuades us to turn our lives over to Christ, and when this has happened, we are “born again.” After our “birth,” Christ will continually challenge and test our faith in Him. Just becausewe have been “reborn” doesn’t mean that we are shielded from sin, in fact, we are the most vulnerable to sin. The devil will constantly try to break us because we have given our lives to Christ; so we will be tempted daily. The same “world” we have broken away from and turned ourbacks on will now watch us, waiting for our downfall so we can then be considered “hypocrites.”Also in Christianity, we are taught to love like Christ loves us. In a sacred marriage underChrist, the groom is often compared to Christ and is told to love his wife like Christ loves the Church. The husband is to marry his wife just like the Church has married Christ. Wives are told to follow their husband, because ultimately Christ is leading their husband. While reading “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” I couldn’t help but notice how closely related my religion is to the poem; along with all the symbolism placed in the stanzas. The first stanza I would like to point out is the second one: “The Bridegroom’s doors are opened wide/ And I am next of kin/ The guest are met, the feast is set/ May’st hear the merry din’.” This particular stanza was interesting to me because the first line shows us how a wife becomes submissive to her husband. “…Doors are opened wide” relates to how she is becoming vulnerable to him, letting him in completely to him and only him; physically, mentally, emotionally and intimately. “The guest are met…” is in relation to how the world will now be watching (as I mentioned before). The world watches once a person turns himself or herself over to Christ. The guests are now going to watch their marriage closely. After the Mariner kills the Albatross, it is hung around his neck so he can understand the seriousness of his act, but he is incapable of realizing the full implications at this time. This is what Christians call “conviction.” Conviction is known in the Bible as Godly sorrow. God's Word tells us that Godly sorrow is what leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). The bird was of no danger to the Mariner or the men on the ship, and in fact, was a spiritual guide to safeguard the crew on their excursion. The murder was committed on a whim, with no forethought about the act or the repercussions; which is usually how people sin. We don’t think about the effect, if we did, we wouldn’t go through with the sin, right. This is what Coleridge istrying to get us to understand, that even after people have given their lives to Christ, we still fall short, but it is because of conviction that we are led to repentance. The ship and its crew face difficulties as it comes to a halt on the sea. The Mariner is angry at his fate instead of remorseful for his crime (conviction), and he curses the sea and the creatures in it. He has not learned to cherish all of Gods’ creations and he will pay a price for this. Instead of the Mariner looking within himself and repenting, he blames everyone else and all of God’s creations; which in itself is a slap in God’s face.God in return, punishes The Mariner for this. A ship approaches and he is dumbfounded to come face to face with Death and Life-In-Death. When I came to this part in the poem, I read it as God telling The Mariner that he has one of two choices. The Mariner could “die” (and be reborn againin Christ) or he can choose to be of the world (devil) and continue to “die” daily. With a roll of the dice, Death wins the lives of the crew and, Life-In-Death wins the life of the Mariner. One by one the men on the ship die, leaving the Mariner alone and frightened. He grieves only for himself, at first, saying “Alone on a wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony” (245). The fact that The Mariner only grieves for himself shows that he is still selfish and “of the world” even after God has stripped him of everything.For seven days and seven nights, which are symbolic to the time it took God to create the heaven and the Earth, he is forced to spend time in solitary, reflecting on the events that have occurred, the eyes of the dead sailors fixed on him with blame. He states “But oh! More horriblethan that/ Is the curse in a dead man’s eye!” indicating he has begun to understand and accept hisresponsibility for their deaths (245). Once this acceptance begins, his solitude is no longer a punishment, but an opportunity for him to realize the beauty and holiness of God’s creations.As he watches the water snakes he begins to perceive them differently, and suddenly theirbeauty becomes apparent to him for the first time. The snakes are symbolic in this instance because snakes are usually considered evil because of the Adam and Eve story in the Bible. Theyare no longer beastly creatures to be condemned, but are creatures of God’s universe to be appreciated and loved. This new insight releases him from his invisible chains and his guilt fromhis sin; he has been convicted and he is and able to offer a blessing for the water snakes. The albatross falls from his neck, or he has been born in Christ again.I believe that Coleridge used The
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