Religious symbolism in literature - Essay Example

Religious Symbolism in Literature Symbolism in literature is very vital in compiling of a literary text. For instance several authors have employed various symbols in literary works. For instance, in the “Lord of the Rings”, by J.R Tolkien, there are various Christ figures which have been employed. The author has employed wizard Gandalf to represent Jesus as the religious symbol. In the novel, the author has employed death and resurrection of the main character, Gandalf, who is compared to the ever powerful Jesus.

Gandalf is portrait as a normal man but he has some supernatural powers, he is a wizard among the Ainur (Stucky). Furthermore, the cross has been represented by numerous authors to depict the crucifixion of Jesus (Kozlovic 45). This is symbol of the Christian faith which is used in most of the churches. For instance, the bible asserts that Christ Jesus died on the cross for our sins. According to the book of Colossians chapter one in verse 20, Paul posits that, “Through his blood, shed on the cross” (Lewis 29).

In addition, there are several symbols of cross which have been used in art and history. For instance, the Roman Catholic, and the protestant churches have been implied in various ways. In literature, several authors have alluded to the Garden of Eden in various works. For instance, the early American literature alludes to Christopher Columbus as the first man who discovered America in 1492. In addition, Shakespeare has incorporated both the snake and the garden as recurrent images. Through these images, Old Hamlet is viewed as a very good man who is a victim of the vicious deceptive murder of Claudius.

The murder is abhorrent because Old Hamlet is a brother to Claudius, which is a similar incident to that of Cain and Abel in the Bible. Furthermore, when Hamlet is asked about the murder he alludes the Eden images. More so, due to corruption and sins at the court, the garden has been choked by weeds (Dasterdi). In addition, literary authors have also incorporated paradise as religious symbols in literary texts. For instance, in the novel, “Paradise Lost”, there are varied images about the loss of the true paradise.

These images include the Garden of Eden. According to Milton, the Garden of Eden emerges as the best. He also asserts that heaven is another paradise which is ever bright. In book 12, Michael reminds Adam that it’s through Christianity that one can have a perfect life, as Christianity had not been invented. Furthermore, anyone who learns to love God, shall posses an inside paradise. That is paradise has become a real place and not like Hawaii which is an imagined place. In “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell”, the author satirically expresses concern about the ideas of Romanticism.

Blake attacks his own thinking and mentality. He asserts that for a complete human being, one has to have the opposites. Emotions are used to refer to hell which is part of human beings. In “The lord of Flies”, the author has incorporated several symbols such as the conch which represents authority, law and order. Furthermore, in “The inferno”, by Dante, several symbols have been used to show the real adventures in hell. Dante set out punishments from a wrathful God towards the sinners (Sanders 34).

The author tries to set out a specific punishment to a specific sin committed. More so, Beowulf incorporates several religious symbols to allude to the elements of evil and good in hell and heaven. In the poem, Beowulf creates the epic hero who is striving to fight against evil forces (Holland 33). Works CitedDasterdi, Hossein . A Cross-Cultural Study of Animals Symbolism in the Persian Translations of Children’s Literature. Journal of Educational and Social Research. 2, (1): 2012. Print.

Golding William. The Lord of Flies. New York: Perigee, 1959. Print. Holland, Kevin. Beowulf. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Print. Kozlovic, Anton. Superman as Christ-Figure: The American Pop Culture Movie Messiah. Journal of Religion and Film. 6: 2002. Lewis, Smith. Chronicles of Narnia Movie Tie-in Box Set the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Boston: Harpercollins, 2010. Print. Sanders, Marcus. Dante’s Inferno. New York: Chronicles Books, 2004. Print. Stucky, Mark. Middle Earth’s Messianic Mythology Remixed: Gandalf’s Death and Resurrection in Novel and Film.

Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. 13: 2006. Print.