Faith is something a person must have inside them to be able to succeed. Success and failure are two completely different things, but faith is what separates the two. In the short story “A Fable with Slips of White Paper Spilling from the Pockets” by Kevin Brockmeier, the author illustrates the struggles a man must overcome in society and the obstacles he must overcome when his faith is tested to the limit. In the fable, the author uses symbols of faith, magical elements, and realistic struggles to divulge the morals and struggles of life.
Brockmeier uses a symbol throughout the fable, using God’s overcoat to symbolize faith to teach a moral lesson. When the man obtains the coat, he realizes that it is not always easy to have the coat, but realizes that the coat changed his life along with many others around him. The fable states, “All I want—just this once—is for somebody to tell me how pretty I look today” (Brockmeier 262). By answering the woman’s prayer, he saw how much the simplest request changed her day. Although the coat impacted his life, the man became significantly reliant on the coat to help him see people the way they truly are. When the man loses the coat he realizes that the coat changed his perspective on how he saw people and he realizes that he would be lost without it. Brockmeier states, “It had brought him little ease—that was true—but it made his life incomparable richer, and he was not sure what he was going to do without it” (Brockmeier266). The man realizes that the coat changed his normal life into a richer and fuller perspective on how people truly are on the inside. The simplest things can symbolize faith, such as a coat, but they can change someone’s life forever.
The author uses magic realism...
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...y now and that he cannot throw the burden of the coat on anyone else. No matter how big or small the job, one can do it with a little faith and sense of responsibility.
In the short story “A Fable with Slips of White Paper Spilling from the Pockets”, the author uses symbols of faith, magical elements, and realistic struggles to divulge the morals and struggles of life. Faith is one thing many people take for granted and one reason why many people cannot complete any tasks in the life they live. Faith is something that one must have everyday to get through life and the overwhelming obstacles it may spit out. Faith is not always easy, but it makes life richer and gives us something to live up to.
Works Cited
Brockmeier, Kevin. “A Fable With Slips of White Paper Spilling From The Pockets.” The View From The Seventh Layer. New York. Pantheon. 2008. 260-267. Print.
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"Poor little Faith!" thought he, for his heart smote him. "What a wretch am I, to leave her on such an errand! She talks of dreams, too. Methought, as she spoke, there was trouble in her face, as if a dream had warned her what work is to be done tonight. But, no, no! 'twould kill her to think it. Well; she's a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, I'll cling to h...
Raised without a strong sense of religion, Thomas Merton’s conversion story, The Seven Storey Mountain, can be read by people of all different backgrounds. Growing up Merton did not have a stable sense of religion, but through the grace of God, found the Catholic faith, which resulted in a life of contemplation and solitude. Like many conversions, it is hard to pinpoint one incident in Merton’s life that formed his faith. Places he visited, people he met, books that he read, all impacted his conversion. In his book, Merton was able to look back on his life and see the sacramental principle weaved into his life to led him to a life of faith. His numerous readings and an unexpected impact of a Hindu monk demonstrate the sacramental principle