The Way of a Pilgrim

The article Squanto’s Role in Pilgrim Diplomacy discusses the importance of the Native American named Squanto, in his duty as mediator between the Pilgrims of New England and the Indian tribes in the surrounding area. In the article the author, Leonard A. Adolf, argues that without the assistance of Squanto in the encounters between Native Americans and English men, the success of the Plymouth colony would not have been as great. Adolf, professor of history at Oregon State University, further…

reunited with his dearly beloved. This perilous journey into Hell is one that few have made. When Dante makes his way through the second circle, the story of two souls has a profound effect on him. Meeting these two souls causes a conflict between the Pilgrim and the Poet and while the Pilgrim shows sympathy for them, the Poet remains stoic and condemns them both to Hell. When Dante makes his way into the…

problematic and questionable aspect of the novel. His contact with these beings helped define the novel as science-fiction rather than purely historical fiction. However, Billy Pilgrim was not exactly mentally sound due to his exposure to gore and disaster while in Dresden. The PTSD he suffered led me to question whether Pilgrim was truly a reliable narrator. His experiences with the aliens seemed to be Pilgrim’s means of rationalizing his condition in a time when PTSD wasn’t recognized as a…

impact it was a colony. The scholar Leonard Adolf gives a detailed report of the Pilgrims and their interactions as they came to America in his article “Squanto's Role In Pilgrim Diplomacy”. The outcome of Pilgrims coming to America was that the people and things they encountered affected the English language. In the 17th century the English language developed and changed as a result of “coming to America”. The Pilgrim Fathers landed in November 1620 at Plymouth Rock in New England (Bragg…

novel written by Kurt Vonnegut, depicts time and challenges the idea of free will in an unusual way. The story follows a man by the name of Billy Pilgrim who “time travels” through different time periods in his life. Mostly, however, Billy is traveling through his experiences in World War Ⅱ. Vonnegut uses time in his novel to discuss the inevitable actuality of life, free will, and death. Billy Pilgrim is a prisoner of war or “POW” after he is captured by the opposing German army. He is…

Pilgrimages, or holy travels, are done for many reasons. Mostly religious, almost every faith has pilgrimages specific to its beliefs and work to strengthen one’s beliefs. The pilgrimages below, the Hajj and the Kashi Yatra, differ in many ways, yet compare in many ways. They are from two different religions, yet show similar ideals and similar ritualistic activities. Both hold certain values strongly and the rituals they perform showcase what values they hold deeply. In the case of the Hajj,…

their own eventual demises. Vonnegut writes the story from multiple perspectives—initially telling the story of the unnamed narrator, who then goes on to himself tell the story of Billy Pilgrim, the primary character of the novel. Vonnegut takes a remarkably apathetic approach to telling a rather dark story. Pilgrim himself personifies this tone, explaining his psyche early in the story: “Now, when I hear myself that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about…

that ultimately relate to the prophets and Allah. Rituals that are implemented are the anti-clockwise circling of the Kaaba seven times, reflecting on the plains of Arafat, drinking from the well of Zamzam and travelling to the village of Mina where pilgrims participate in the stoning of the devil which consists of throwing pebbles at three stone pillars. (Penney, 2000) Although, it’s compulsory that all Muslims make the attempt to participate in hajj at least once in the lifetime, essentially,…

As Pilgrim, a character in the story, intimately understands and is well aware of the plot, his place in it, and his inevitable fate. To him, these things are of little consequence as “He has seen his birth and death many times… and pays random visits to all the events in between” (Vonnegut 23). The reader however, is not privy to this information until it is revealed to them. For the reader, every new scene is exactly that, new. This bizarre exchange of information manifests in Pilgrim not only…

walking commonly seen in current society. However in other parts of the world, there’s a type of walking only done by the devout. It’s a long, laborious, spiritually transformative walk known as pilgrimages. Rebecca Solnit, a writer, joined one of the pilgrims on her journey and wrote about her experience in her work, ‘The Uphill Road to Grace: Some Pilgrimages’. Henry David Thoreau, a naturalist and a philosopher, also wrote about this type of journey - albeit he doesn’t call it pilgrimage - in…