Religion In The Rich Brother By Tobias Wolff

Amidst tumultuous times religion is often turned to for solace and comfort with difficult matters. The short story, “The Rich Brother” by Tobias Wolff, displays both sides of religion, one being the extreme piety fueled by fear of the fate of one's immortal soul, and the other the doubtful cynicism of a skeptic. Donald is the brother obsessed with the future of his spirit in the next life and hops from religion to religion in search of the path which leads his soul to salvation. Therefore, fear of the unknown motivates people to seek religion, but suffering and hardship can cause faith to deteriorate and the person to become doubtful and unbelieving.

“The Rich Brother” is a conflict between the apex of piety, even to the extent of self-neglect,

and the extremities of worldly possessions and material wealth. Donald is the focus of righteous internal and external zeal. He lay ways all mundane possessions and cares very little for money. Donating money and giving it way even to the most shady of characters seems to be Donald’s proficiency. He shuns material wealth and has no love for the acquisition of it. These qualities outline his personality to its core. By all means and rights, he is a very religious man.
A character similar to him is developed in another related short story called “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the beginning of this story, Brown is an extremely religious man. His place of birth, Salem, places him as a God fearing man of good faith. Encouraging prayers, and thinking of his wife as an angel sent to guide his actions are good examples of his own piety.
Yet each of these men has a problem with the very foundation of their lives. Their religion is at their core, it is the basis on which they lay their beliefs. However, each man has doubts. Whether they are developed throughout the story or stated straightforwardly in the beginning these men do not follow their God as closely as they might seem to.
Donald has jumped around to different belief sets throughout his life. Hinduism and Christianity appear to be his main religions. Within these faiths, he drifts from place to place, from church to church, and from denomination to denomination. This constant search for purpose and righteousness leads him on secular journeys with no true intent. His drifting seems to have an ethereal quality to it, like a ghost.
The question is: why?

Why does Donald spend his time endlessly drifting to different religions? It is out of fear. His fear of the unknown trumps any physical possessions he may wish to own, or any sort of monetary value he wants to acquire. This fear drives him to the ends of the earth, different communities, and sects people. Medical emergencies have no effect on his search, as he almost died from undiagnosed hepatitis yet sought no hospital assistance. Extreme devotion seems to be an understatement.

The fear Donald feels relates to the unknown fate of his immortal soul. If he were truly a faithful and religious man he would commit to one system of beliefs and not fade in and out of religious sects. However, Donald does not know which religion is the right one to save his soul. He does not know which God is the real one or which belief system will lead his soul to the afterlife.

Clearly his doubts are large and passively subversive. He has had a hard life. His brother was abusive to him and has tried to kill him when they were children. Friends and work are hard to come by as a result of his eternal searching and wandering. Being homeless and often not knowing where his next meal will come from are some of his other hardships. He ruins his own life constantly looking for salvation and yet, he cannot decide which sect has the true deliverance. Paradoxically, he is a man of faith with no faith in his religious choices and

payoffs.
Goodman Brown is similar in his zealous lifestyle. He praises his God and believes everyone in his town in righteous and just. Brown is a god-fearing man and a good one in his own right. Throughout the turmoils of his story he is always trying to find faith, whether it be figuratively or in the literal sense, as his wife's namesake is Faith. Nevertheless, one can assume that he is a good man with virtuous purpose.
His doubts stem from the events in the story.

The journey is described as one of evil intent and yet, Brown never seems to accomplish his goal. Whilst on his walk through the woods, he comes across a man assumed to be the embodiment of the devil within himself. This doppleganger leads him to a supposedly nice and homely Goodwife named Cloyse. She was described as pious by Brown, and yet as Cloyse talks he realizes that her good intentions were false and she was really a witch serving the devil. Long story short, it turns out everyone in his little town is of the devil’s allegiance, Brown and Faith being the last converts to their

cult.
He witnesses a frightful ceremony which fills him with fear and disgust. This being the concession of Faith’s soul to the devil. As soon as this ceremony appears, it vanishes, but the fear within the heart of Young Goodman Brown is very much real. The fear seeds his doubt upon the town. Everywhere he looks lurks a man or a woman with hell-bent secrets. His own uncertainty fuels his lack of faith, translated by his increasingly cynical nature as the story concludes.
Faith is lost yet again, this time it is both physical and spiritual in nature as Faith Brown was pushed away from her husband because of his fear that she is the devil’s woman. It was his original fear for this terrible hallucination and the unknown intentions of those around him that caused the doubts and uncertainty within a usually very pious and good natured man.
Fear is a great motivator, and fear of the unknown can cause riotous effects. In the context of faith, fear is the reason for abandonment and distrust of faith. Both of these men endured hardship and suffering, whether it be in a brief instance or prolonged. This calamity caused the resolve in their faith to crumble and allowed suspicion and skepticism to seep in the cracks. These seemingly secular men suffer doubts of their own which either puts an end to their convictions about a higher power or makes it difficult for them to be comfortable where they stand with God. However, this is the nature of faith. It is a belief that requires a certain principle of strength to follow, and it is not for the faint of heart. Fear can easily wear away at those doctrines and cause someone to lose their way, and essentially, lose faith.