Religious Symbols And Symbolism Of The Visit, A Book, Like...

Throughout history, one of the most prominent facets of any society is religion. It influences every aspect of civilization, from culture to government and from social rules to music. Literature, too, cannot escape the grasp religion holds on society. Works like Paradise Lost and The Divine Comedy show the awesome power religion inspires within people; contrastively, works like Huckleberry Finn and The Visit show the rampant cynicism religion inspires within people. Written by Swiss author Friedrich Dà ¼rrenmatt, The Visit is filled with religious symbols and references to Christianity. Instead of honoring the religion, though, the references only ridicules it. Dà ¼rrenmatt’s The Visit serves as a mockery of the church; its biblical allusions†¦show more content†¦Half a century prior, Ill â€Å"[denies] paternity† of his illegitimate child with Claire, bringing â€Å"along two witnesses† whom he has bribed in order to escape his sentence (32), sentencing Claire to a life of prostitution. The contradiction between Ill’s connection to Christ and life of sin mocks what Christ is. If Ill can still function as a Christ figure while having committed major sins, then Christ could have done the same. Dà ¼rrenmatt is arguing that the church itself is not free of sin, as much as they would like to appear to be. Connections and contradictions between Ill and Christ satirize Christ and mock the church. In continuance of this biblical metaphor, the town serves as the Judas to Ill’s Christ, but their moral absolvement for killing Ill implies moral absolvement for Judas, which deconstructs the entire story of Christ. Like Judas to Christ, the town sells Ill out for the prospect of money. Once Claire places the one billion dollar price on Ill’s head, it’s already decided that the townspeople are going to kill him; â€Å"the temptation is far too strong and [their] poverty is too wretched† (85). They have no choice other than to choose the money over him, which they do. But, in the end, the townspeople have convinced the media and themselves that killing Ill is not a matter of money but morals. The citizens declare that only if the they are â€Å"unable to tolerate evil† and are â€Å"incapable of living any longer,Show MoreRelatedOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pages. Organization Theory Challenges and Perspectives John McAuley, Joanne Duberley and Phil Johnson . This book is, to my knowledge, the most comprehensive and reliable guide to organisational theory currently available. What is needed is a text that will give a good idea of the breadth and complexity of this important subject, and this is precisely what McAuley, Duberley and Johnson have provided. They have done some sterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of workRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 PagesDowden This book Logical Reasoning by Bradley H. Dowden is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. That is, you are free to share, copy, distribute, store, and transmit all or any part of the work under the following conditions: (1) Attribution You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author, namely by citing his name, the book title, and the relevant page numbers (but not in any way that suggests that the book Logical Reasoning