Asleep In The Lord Journey Essay

The question I will be answering is the one concerning journeys. We have read and discussed in class a few stories that deal with journeys. The three that I will be looking at are, Asleep in the Lord, Artificial Nigger, and Remains of the Day. The story Asleep in the Lord follows a man named Mitchel, who traveled to India to help in a Mother Teresa house. He is a man that has been traveling for some time trying to find a place where he can feel like he is making a difference and belongs. In the story, it says,” Before arriving in India, Mitchell had traveled for four months, visiting three continents and nine countries, but Calcutta felt like the first real place he’d been” (pg. 89). This is the evidence for Mitchel’s literal journey, but there is something more to it. I think that he is on a journey to better himself. Later, in the story we see evidence for …show more content…
Head and his grandson Nelson. Mr. Head is taking Nelson into the city for the first time to show him that the city is not a place where he will want to be. He uses the fact that “the niggers” are the reason why the city is a horrible place. This story shows the theme of a journey in the way as a journey to the city. During their time in the city Mr. Head describes multiple things that he relates to hell. Mr. Head goes out of his way to point out the sewers and describe them as entrances to hell, “Squat down he said, and stick your head down in there… Then Mr. Head explained the sewer system, how the entire city was underlined with it, how it contained all the drainage and was full of rats and how a man could slide into it and be sucked down along endless black tunnels… He described it so well that Nelson was for some seconds shaken. He connected the sewer passages with the entrance to hell…” (pg. 220). You can almost relate their journey to the one of Virgil and Dante, where Mr. Head is Virgil leading Nelson who is Dante through the city or