Influence of Religion at and Art - Literature review Example

The twentieth century was the most discrepant period in the history of mankind. On the one hand that was the epoch of scientific, technical and intellectual progress and great hitches in all spheres of human activity. On the other the 20th century was the age of deep spiritual crisis. Every person in the world revised old established ideas about good and evil. Thomas Mann called it the age of endless wars and revolutions (Jasper, 1992, p. 54). It assumed collisions not only between countries and classes but also in human minds and souls. The radical experience of the World War I and World War II was described by american writers who came to fight young, full of hopes and returned from the war with destroyed dreams and believes without finding the new ones. Such writers created their own literature – the literature of “Lost Generation”. In their works Ernest Hemingway, William Folkner and others depicted disregarded surroundings, estrangement and deep pessimism caused by cruel reality. Ernest Hemingway wrote “… when men fight for the freedom of their country against a foreign invasion, and when these men are your friends, some few friends and some of long standing, you know how they were attached and how they fought, you learn, watching them live and fight and die, you learn that there are worse things than war. Cowardice is worse, treachery is worse, and simple selfishness is worse” (Brian, 1988, p. 73). People, who got the scar of the war did not believe in God any more. The crisis of the twentieth century was one of the social phenomena that had to be acknowledged before it was dealt with. The way out of the crisis was hard and long because the main reason of it was the changing of the attitude towards the Christian dogmas. Outstanding German philosopher Fridrich Nitse wrote: “Concept of God still was the strongest objection against existing… We disclame God. We deny the responsibility in God and due to this we’ll save the world for the first time” (Pelican, 1991, p. 83). Another philosopher Thomas Mann said that Christianity was one of the bases on which our civilization lied. In such turbulent times every person who was spiritually free and not only swimming with the stream of the age had an urgent necessity to reappraise his values, to realize them again and stand up for them. The 20th century strictly criticised Christian morality. Nevertheless that criticism touched only the superficial ideas but the deep Christian dogmas that were found once stayed virginal (Jasper, 1992, p. 69). For the last two thousand years you could hardly find a literary work where the theme of religion, faith or God was omitted. These themes were omnipresent. Their variations – Christian images, symbols, allusions, associations, philosophical reflections on God were found in works of different writers, different genres and styles. American literature of the 20th century was not an exception. Till the time Kurt Vonnegut’s usage of Christian motives were not thoroughly examined. The critics had an opinion that Christianity and Vonnegut were almost incompatible. They supposed the writer’s attitude towards Christianity was not serious but even negative. Only the last researches of his works showed the role and meaning of Christianity in author’s world outlook. Religion played an important role in Vonnegut’s artistic world and the Bible was the main element of the author’s thinking. Vonnegut emphasised the positive beginning of Christianity, its appeal to universal love. Nevertheless Vonnegut thought that the Christian religion couldn’t prevent shocking crimes of the 20th century. J. Lundguist wrote a book dedicated to Kurt Vonnegut and his works. In it he analysed Vonnegut’s manner of writing and pointed out “the cosmic irony” as the main feature of writer’s method. He also touched the theme of Christian religion especially while analysing the Vonnegut’s novel “Slaughter-House Five” (1969). Lundguist compared the main hero of the novel with Jesus Christ. According to the literary critic the basis of the contradictory attitude towards Christianity lied in author’s biography – in writer’s parents’ negative attitude to religion. For Vonnegut Christian religion was one of the greatest human ideas worked out during the world development. Nevertheless Vonnegut considered that people didn’t understand Christianity. They used the religion for their own needs and purposes, for manipulation of each other. Only because of that Vonnegut was against every “organized” religion. That’s why Vonnegut’s individual, personal relationships with God always were on the verge of riot, that was clearly seen in his works (Lundquist, 1977). Another great American writer Ernest Hemingway also applied to Christian motives. His novel “A Farewell to Arms!” was full of religious problems. In the second chapter the main character of the novel Frederic Henry told us about the man who greatly differed from others. He was regimental Priest. One day Priest carefully stepped at the slush when Frederick’s friend noticed him. He raised his eyes and smiled to the friend. The description was symbolic. Hemingway associated the slush with the war. The war as well as slush was disgusting for human nature. The Priest wanted to guard himself from the war. He strove to his native land where everything was calm and quiet. Priest’s motherland became the symbol of paradise. It was the land where a person could find happiness and peace. The author told that Frederic Henry lived in the world without God. Hemingway underlined the immaturity of Frederic’s views and opposed him to the Priest. Hemingway showed the war from social and religious sides. On the one hand he described the war between countries and peoples, on the other hand he described the war between good and evil for religious person, eternal conflict of man and element (Brian, 1988, p. 112). The second problem shown in the novel was Priest and Frederic’s attitude to love. The Priest was endowed with love to God as a gift from the childhood. He was sure that a person who was in love could do everything in the name of that strong feeling. That’s why the author considered the Priest to be the votary of divine love. Hemingway showed that Frederic’s way of spiritual growth was much longer. For him love could be only to woman. He couldn’t even imagine a woman who can be the starting-point of his spiritual sense. The third religious theme shown by Hemingway in his work “A Farewell to Arms!” was God as fate, destiny and the help of supernatural power to the person. Only at night Frederic saw the sacred image of God. At that time he was afraid of God. He believed that God had hostile power and punitive measures. Frederic didn’t believe in God, but he was superstitious. Before the war Katherine gave Frederic the medallion with the icon of Saint Anthony. She tried to reassure Frederic that the medallion would save him from misfortune. Frederic took her present and put it in the pocket, instead of hanging it on the neck. Hemingway expressed his ideas towards that. All people are equal facing sufferings and death. The icons and God could save men only if they caught the straw and pray for themselves. Otherwise they would die because of natural selection. In a crucial moment Frederic applied to God with words “God, save me from this!”. As a result those words full of strong faith helped him. He was just wounded, but not dead. Someone could say the medallion of Saint Antonio really saved his life. The main literary work of American writer James Arthur Baldwin was the novel “Go Tell it on a Mountain”. It was written in 1953. The narrator opposed the inner world of white and black people. The main character of the novel was a fourteen-year-old black teenager John Grames who spent his childhood and adolescence in Garleme city. The boy was a stepson in a large family and he was looking for love, support and understanding from his nearest. The most important reasons of his teenager crisis were restless and estrangement from the family. The crisis was much intensified under the influence of John’s difficult relations with the stepfather. His stepfather was Garleme’s Preacher, who combined blind religion and belief in God with violent temperament in his soul. He demanded implicit belief from the children and doesn’t want to forgive their slightest mistakes. “Everyone had always said, that John would be a Preacher when he grew up, just like his father...” (Pelican, 1991, p. 85). But little John wanted another life. That new life was full of white people who didn’t want to accept him for their world. The hero was all alone in his thoughts. He found his favourite place where he felt safe. It was a high hill in the central New York Park. From the top of the hill he saw that people were not afraid of God, they simply had him in their hearts and lived with divine love. He dreamed of becoming a poet, a president of a college or a famous film star. But at the end John made the conclusion, that the only way out for him was to apply to religion. Only church could save him from life troubles. The third chapter is a culmination of the novel, where John was at the church altar. After all his experience, after loosing and finding the belief in God John clearly saw the necessity to join the religious community. Having analized the works of Ernest Hemingway, James Baldwin and Kurt Vonnegut we came to the conclusion, that religion has a great influence in literature and art. Religious outlook helps person to comprehend vital values. Many famous philosophers and scientists consider religion as one of the most important cultural and social factors. For hundred of years we can hardly find a literary work where the theme of religion or God was omitted. Nowadays religion is an integral part of modern life, because it makes connection between person and God. Some people have an opinion that nowadays person is so strong that he can live without God and faith, but that is not reasonable. According to the social investigations today most of religious people believe in God in the way they understand him. For these people God is a picture of good, starting-point and gladness. So, the future of religion in art is clarified. Religious societies will find new forms, methods in art and literature and apply to eternal spiritual values. Christian symbols, images, associations and the Bible undoubtedly will always be inexhaustible source for poets, writers and artists all over the world. References Brian, D. (1988). The True Gen: An Intimate Portrait of Hemingway by Those Who Knew Him. New York: Grove Press. Dictionary of Literary Biodraphy. Detroit, Michigan, 1983. Jasper, D. (1992). The Study of Literature and Religion. New York Lundquist, J. (1977). Kurt Vonnegut. New York. Pelican J. (1991) The Christian Tradition. Chicago: Chicago Press Read More