Indwelling Evil: The Manifestation of Evil in Early American Writers Sometimes evil is loud and obvious. Sometimes it is quiet and cunning. Throughout the various time periods and styles of American writing, the one idea that is a common theme is the overwhelming echo of evil. May it be a spiritual being or just someone who disagrees with the cultural standards; authors throughout time focused on it’s manifestation. Through analysis of Johnathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”, and Washington Irving’s “Adventures of a German Student”, evil will be defined, examined and used to exemplify evil’s indwelling through early American literature. From the very beginning of American civilization from
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Instead of Puritanism being the religion of the people, the majority chose to believe in Deism. Compared to the view of the Puritans whether all things were used as messages from God, and every man’s focus was on his spiritual life, deism is solely focused on man. While Deists believe that there is a god, he is a god of rational and empirical. Which is why, Paine’s idea of evil is focused on a mortal enemy instead of a spiritual one. In “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine evil identifies very differently compared to Johnathan Edward’s view of evil. In Paine’s time, the main concern was that of gaining independence from England for the sake of a smaller governing body. Paine was a strong advocate of small government, and even states, “Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worse state an intolerable one” (Paine). Along with the strife between classes of wealth, and how leaders are chosen and other grievances against English rule, Paine uses this essay to covey a need for change for the better. He views England as evil because they are hindering and controlling the development of the American Colonies. According to C. E. Merriam Jr., author of “Thomas Paine’s Political Theories”, “A fundamental distinction in the political theory of Paine is that drawn between society and government. The social condition he …show more content…
When the word evil is used, most people do not think of a different religion or the enemy country, they think of spirits and other realm symbols. In this story, that is how Irving uses evil in his writing. This is different from the view of evil of Paine and closer related to the view of evil for Edwards. In the adventure, Gottfried Wolfgang is a student who suffered from a diseased imagination (Irving 1) and moves to Paris. In his fancies, he would see a translucent but beautiful face of a woman he did not know. When one evening he is approached by the guillotine, a woman in black. After offering shelter from the night, the woman removes her cloak to reveal her face of beauty and diamond studded necklace. The woman in his dreams. When he returns from errands the next morning, he finds her corpse. As the police officers question Wolfgang, they untie to necklace and the woman’s head falls onto the floor. The police are puzzled as they realize the woman had been beheaded yesterday. Wolfgang slowly realizes her hold on him and is so distracted that he spends the rest of his days in a mad house. The interesting ending to this story is that it is told as a narration and the narrator states that he was told the story first hand in the Paris mad house (Irving 3). This type of entertainment was very common in the Romantic period of Washington Irving. Horror was used to entertain,
Instead of Puritanism being the religion of the people, the majority chose to believe in Deism. Compared to the view of the Puritans whether all things were used as messages from God, and every man’s focus was on his spiritual life, deism is solely focused on man. While Deists believe that there is a god, he is a god of rational and empirical. Which is why, Paine’s idea of evil is focused on a mortal enemy instead of a spiritual one. In “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine evil identifies very differently compared to Johnathan Edward’s view of evil. In Paine’s time, the main concern was that of gaining independence from England for the sake of a smaller governing body. Paine was a strong advocate of small government, and even states, “Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worse state an intolerable one” (Paine). Along with the strife between classes of wealth, and how leaders are chosen and other grievances against English rule, Paine uses this essay to covey a need for change for the better. He views England as evil because they are hindering and controlling the development of the American Colonies. According to C. E. Merriam Jr., author of “Thomas Paine’s Political Theories”, “A fundamental distinction in the political theory of Paine is that drawn between society and government. The social condition he …show more content…
When the word evil is used, most people do not think of a different religion or the enemy country, they think of spirits and other realm symbols. In this story, that is how Irving uses evil in his writing. This is different from the view of evil of Paine and closer related to the view of evil for Edwards. In the adventure, Gottfried Wolfgang is a student who suffered from a diseased imagination (Irving 1) and moves to Paris. In his fancies, he would see a translucent but beautiful face of a woman he did not know. When one evening he is approached by the guillotine, a woman in black. After offering shelter from the night, the woman removes her cloak to reveal her face of beauty and diamond studded necklace. The woman in his dreams. When he returns from errands the next morning, he finds her corpse. As the police officers question Wolfgang, they untie to necklace and the woman’s head falls onto the floor. The police are puzzled as they realize the woman had been beheaded yesterday. Wolfgang slowly realizes her hold on him and is so distracted that he spends the rest of his days in a mad house. The interesting ending to this story is that it is told as a narration and the narrator states that he was told the story first hand in the Paris mad house (Irving 3). This type of entertainment was very common in the Romantic period of Washington Irving. Horror was used to entertain,