Although the Carpenter does not eat as many oysters than the Walrus, as Tweedledee points out to Alice, I placed him at the lowest end of the axis because of what he eats. While the other characters on this list are either addicted to food or drugs, the Carpenter eats an excess of living creatures, mixing murder into his gluttony. While eating oysters is hardly seen as a sin, the oysters in this poem can walk, talk, and communicate with the Carpenter and the Walrus, giving the Carpenter’s and Walrus’ gluttony a cannibalistic quality that the other characters lack. Further, although the Walrus feels guilty for eating the oysters (but as Tweedledee points out, this could be an act so the Carpenter doesn’t realize he’s eaten more oysters) the
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While the poem shows Laura’s addiction to the fruit given to her by the goblins, this food can be seen as symbolizing drugs as well. For example, when the goblins give Laura the fruit she does not simply eat it but, “suck’d and suck’d and suck’d the more…she suck’d until her lips were sore;…And knew not was it night or day/ as she turn’d home alone.” These lines show not only her excessive gorging on the fruit, but also her altered state of consciousness akin to that of drug consumption. She is never able to eat the fruit after this encounter, yet she still obsesses over it, giving up her daily activities, refusing to eat, and slowly wasting away until her sister finally decides to take action. While this is certainly a severe addiction, she is not placed as low on the axis as Thompson because she is tempted and tricked into her addiction rather than succumbing to it willingly. While Thompson purposefully collects drugs for his trip to Las Vegas, Laura is tricked into an addiction and is eventually able to free herself with the help of her sister, placing her higher on the axis than …show more content…
Although Aquinas wrote about the harmful aspects of gluttony, there are hints that he may be guilty of this sin himself. While he seems to judge the other deadly sins rather harshly, especially pride, he is surprisingly lenient in his analysis of gluttony and justifies it in many cases. For example, Aquinas claims that eating too much or becoming drunk on accident is simply a venial sin, and that gluttony is not a mortal sin unless one forsakes God in favor of food. Aquinas also mentions many times the difficulty of avoiding gluttony due to the “necessity of taking food, and on account of the difficulty of proper discretion.” However, while there are hints that Aquinas struggles with gluttony himself, he also acknowledges the dangers of the sin and ultimately declares it as dangerous and the other deadly sins. Though he seems to justify this sin quite a bit more than the other sins, he still works against it and encourages avoiding it altogether, thereby placing him on the highest point of the
While the poem shows Laura’s addiction to the fruit given to her by the goblins, this food can be seen as symbolizing drugs as well. For example, when the goblins give Laura the fruit she does not simply eat it but, “suck’d and suck’d and suck’d the more…she suck’d until her lips were sore;…And knew not was it night or day/ as she turn’d home alone.” These lines show not only her excessive gorging on the fruit, but also her altered state of consciousness akin to that of drug consumption. She is never able to eat the fruit after this encounter, yet she still obsesses over it, giving up her daily activities, refusing to eat, and slowly wasting away until her sister finally decides to take action. While this is certainly a severe addiction, she is not placed as low on the axis as Thompson because she is tempted and tricked into her addiction rather than succumbing to it willingly. While Thompson purposefully collects drugs for his trip to Las Vegas, Laura is tricked into an addiction and is eventually able to free herself with the help of her sister, placing her higher on the axis than …show more content…
Although Aquinas wrote about the harmful aspects of gluttony, there are hints that he may be guilty of this sin himself. While he seems to judge the other deadly sins rather harshly, especially pride, he is surprisingly lenient in his analysis of gluttony and justifies it in many cases. For example, Aquinas claims that eating too much or becoming drunk on accident is simply a venial sin, and that gluttony is not a mortal sin unless one forsakes God in favor of food. Aquinas also mentions many times the difficulty of avoiding gluttony due to the “necessity of taking food, and on account of the difficulty of proper discretion.” However, while there are hints that Aquinas struggles with gluttony himself, he also acknowledges the dangers of the sin and ultimately declares it as dangerous and the other deadly sins. Though he seems to justify this sin quite a bit more than the other sins, he still works against it and encourages avoiding it altogether, thereby placing him on the highest point of the