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Critical views of ophelia
Religion and American slaves
Critical views of ophelia
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St. Clare and his cousin, Ophelia, had a discussion regarding their opinions on slavery, and these characters’ beliefs represented a larger group of people that existed back then. Getting home from church one day, Ophelia and Marie talked to St. Clare about the sermon, and how the preacher “showed how all the orders and distinctions in society came from God” (Stowe 180). St. Clare immediately claimed that that discourse would have given him about as much knowledge as the newspaper (Stowe 180). He believed that to say that God is an advocate of slavery is as crazy as stating that God supported alcoholism (Stowe 181), and explained how this is the messed up logic that they’re falling to. St. Clare’s opinions represented how a lot of people in
the south were against slavery but were still too stubborn to do anything about it. Coming from the north, Ophelia was blind from her own racism. She was an abolitionist, yet she still detested the idea of a black person touching her or even being near her (Stowe 162). Throughout Ophelia’s discussion with St. Clare she attempted to have her cousin admit that slavery is wrong which is quite ironic stating that she herself was quite racist (Stowe 180-181). The larger message that Stowe used Ophelia to represent was the fact that there were many Northerners that claimed to be abolitionists, yet were still disgusted by black people. St. Clare and Ophelia shared their diverse opinions, and Stowe used these characters to reveal the truth of some people regardless the direction they lived in.
In the book The Descent of Alette by Alice Notley, the book is a twist to what readers would expect. In the story, a girl name Alette is chosen for a certain mission and she goes in not knowing what to expect. Alette goes on these journey and face with challenges that she must overcome, but it is more about the destination then than the journey itself. One of the important theme throughout the book is transformation.
Douglass moves to attack the Christian beliefs of the American people, showing the great discrepancies between the ideals held in the Christian faith and the ideals held by slaveowners. Christians avoidance of abolishing slavery, yet worshipping a loving and peaceful God, may be the worse crime of them all. Douglass explains the hypocrisy of the American people by choosing to continue slavery while claiming the benevolent principles embedded in the Bible. At the moment he gives this speech, “they are thanking God for the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, yet they are utterly silent in respect to a law which robs religion of its chief significance” (Douglass 12). The American people acknowledge and thank God for their freedoms, yet purposefully
‘Death of a Salesman’ and ‘The Eve of St Agnes’ are two texts that differ in several ways but are essentially similarly themed, as they both centre on an individual that is fundamentally a catalyst to chaos and corruption. Whilst it is clear that Miller has made delusion, fantasy and thus disorder inevitable from just the opening stage directions of the play –which signifies Willy’s false idyllic reminiscences: “A melody is heard, played upon a flute...telling of grass and trees and the horizon” - Keats also gives an impression of danger and disorder being inevitable in the poem from its setting, which is implied to be winter: the season which signifies cold, sickness and thus, death: ‘bitter chill it was!’.
Lucretia Mott was involved in wanting to end slavery and support the rights of women. In “Abuses and Uses of the Bible” Mott wants to make people realize that you do not always need to go by the bible. She believes that some theories in the bible are indeed true however; we need to be aware of “our opinions and denunciatory in our conduct.” (pg 42). The bible is the word of God, our loving perfect God. The scriptures in the bible are claimed to be testimonies from God “as being able to give knowledge of that which is to come, being able to make wise into salvation; giving knowledge of a purer way, but only through the faith of Jesus Christ.” (pg 43). The bible has given us an insight to what the word of God is. The word of God we believe is our guide to the closest thing to perfection. For example, baptism, communion, and confirmation are all forms of devotion and steps we feel we need to take to become closer to God.
The free laborer is dependent on employment and without it he will starve, but the slave is protected and cared for where he works or not. The example goes further by stating that when they were emancipated, they had the same treatments as the Irish did and now with no one to care for them, with no master, they are worse off without slavery, they are “destitute and savage”. Fitzhugh also states that the white-family enforces morality and assimilation upon their slaves. The constant interaction and supervision between slaves and masters created well-ordered families. He then also points out that nothing in the Bible or Christianity that is strictly against slavery, implying that using religion to attempt to abolish slavery is technically not true and by doing so “reduces the Bible to a mere allegory, to be interpreted to suit every vicious taste and wicked
The owners and congregation of the churches would argue that these African-American men and women do not have the ability to understand divinity, yet, both Banneker and Douglas are Christians and allude many sections of their writings to the Bible and Christianity. In his writing, Banneker compares the Bible to the Declaration of Independence, in which Jefferson had a heavy hand in: “….the Father of mankind and of his equal and impartial distribution of those rights and privileges which he had conferred upon them, that you should at the same time counteract his mercies” (191). He breaks down the fact that the father or creator would be disgusted with how man is not treated as an equal and that claiming they are equal while still being a slave owner is unjust, thus, proving the fact that if they are going to claim man to be equal than the shackles of all slaves should be relinquished and the slaves should be free like the white man. Otherwise, there is no justice, and there cannot be justice for the Declaration of Independence is written in hypocrisy. There is no way to justify actions against the slaves and somehow slave owners try and justify their actions through their churches. Douglas states that the ceremonies these men are attending are nothing but empty sermons allowing men to feel good about themselves. While in this light they are
The irony exposed in Jacobs’ writings serves to show how desperate the slaveholders are to maintain their power, and how this desperation reveals the depravity of slavery. They are fully cognizant that having the word of God on their side affords them even more power over their slaves, and they use this knowledge as a channel through which slave behavior may be controlled. “After the alarm caused by Nat Turner’s insurrection had subsided, the slaveholders came to the conclusion that it would be well to give the slaves enough religious instruction to keep them from murdering their masters” (Jacobs 57). This passage is the first to demonstrate whites using religion as an oppressive force.
People in the nineteenth century were religious. Sometimes people were able to convince people to do certain things or convince people what they are doing is right by saying it is in the bible. Fitzhugh thinks that “all anti-slavery men should be atheists”(). It is acceptable for a white man to own a slave. On the other hand, Douglas thinks southerners don’t practice what they preach. He was seen how “the man who robs me of my earnings at the end of each week meets as a class leader on Sunday morning, to show me the way of life, and the path of salvation. He who sells my sister, for purposes of prostitution , stands forth as the pious advocate of purity”(135). By mentioning how women are forced into prostitution helps Douglas attain the white northern women. A woman will not let another woman in hell. In addition, he is also able to get the support of christian that are against people that use religion to do bad
Slavery was a staple of Southern economy and lifestyle which greatly increased after the 1820s. Slaveholders came under attack when abolitionist ideas gripped the North and threatened the Southern way of life. This resulted in Southerners trying to justify slavery, not only to the North, but to themselves. One planter and politician from South Carolina, James Henry Hammond, wrote a Proslavery Argument in 1845 to refute the accusations the abolitionists were making towards the South and the institution of slavery. He defended slave-owners when he wrote his argument and said that slaveholders were responsible to God and the law. He also said that these owners could not refuse to provide just care for their slaves or be “tyrannical or cruel.”
Slave-owners forced a perverse form of Christianity, one that condoned slavery, upon slaves. According to this false Christianity the enslavement of “black Africans is justified because they are the descendants of Ham, one of Noah's sons; in one Biblical story, Noah cursed Ham's descendants to be slaves” (Tolson 272). Slavery was further validated by the numerous examples of it within the bible. It was reasoned that these examples were confirmation that God condoned slavery. Douglass’s master...
Douglass’ explains his view of religion as “When I think that these precious souls are to-day shut up in the prison-house of slavery, my feelings overcome me, and I am almost ready to ask, “Does a righteous God govern the universe? And for what does he hold the thunders in his right hand, if not to smite the oppressor, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the spoiler? (p.48).” He wonders how a righteous God can rule the universe, and yet still allow cruel things like slavery to exist. One of the ways Douglass shows himself to be a Christian, is by quoting the Bible, “Dark and terrible as is this picture, I hold it to be s...
...e the institution of slavery itself was not evil, there were evils associated with the practice. As such, the clergy often fell into disfavor with the extremists of the proslavery movement.
Christianity in the context of American slavery took on many faces and characteristics. As a religion, it was used as a tool of manipulation for slave masters to further justify the institution, and particularly assert authority over their slaves. In the slave community, Christianity was adapted in the slave community as a means to shape an identity and create a sense of dignity for an oppressed people. Christianity in the context of the slave community was a means to uplift and encourage the slaves, a way in which to advance the interests of slave-holders, and in some cases, a means used to justify freedom.
As we read this week in Fitzhugh argument and in chapter 11 we saw how slavery was supported by racialized and economic argument. Fitzhugh viewed slaves as incapable to take care of themselves and thought it would be better for them to continue being slaves and have their owners provide for them (Fitzhugh, 1854), while both readings share the same view that without slavery, slaves, or “blacks” as the chapter says, would become violent, aimless, and uncontrollable (Beamish et al., 2017). Race was commonly used to support slavery, but in chapter 11, the Cotton Revolution supported slavery more because of the income slaves brought into the south. “The explosion of available land in the fertile cotton belt brought new life to the South.” cotton
Many people during the time of Harriet Beecher Stowe and even now regard religion as a means of getting out of the requirement of having to go to Hell by being a part of a religion. What these people do not realize is that there is more to just being able to say that they are Christians and getting out of the punishment for their sins. They must be examples of what it is like to be religious and practice it with fervency and commitment. Miss Ophelia was Stowe's embodiment of these people that are trying to cheat their way out of spiritual punishment. She admits to having feelings of bigotry toward blacks. "I've always had a prejudice against negroes [ ] and it's a fact, I never could bear to have that child touch me; but, I didn't think she knew it" (246). Miss Ophelia's aversion toward African Americans shows that to be human is to be flawed; however, it is still unchristian to be so.