In Mark Twain's Letters from the Earth, Satan describes what people believe heaven is going to be like. It made me wonder if that is truly what we want heaven to be like. Do we all want to be playing harps and singing the same old song over and over? That to me means that there is no individuality, which is something humans pride themselves in. Perhaps that is what Twain was saying in this story. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? To me that is what he was saying. He had Satan say that humans only think that they think. I believe he was trying to get us to question whether we believe what we are told or if we can actually think for ourselves. I'm sure that my idea of heaven is not the same as everyone else, which means that I do actually think.
I think the one part of heaven that I did agree with in the story was that every human being was there and that the color of skin or religious background did not matter. I think this is important because in heaven everyone would be the same due to everyone being created in the likeness of one God, so there could be no prejudices.
I wonder to if by having Satan as the main character the view of human beings and of God were skewed. It would make complete sense, because Satan and God are always at odds with each other. And Twain also shows how Satan's mouth has a tendency to get him into trouble. This too may have been a way for Twain to inform the reader that a person should think before they speak, because sometimes words really can get you into trouble.
All in all, I really liked the story and found myself questioning elements that I usually do not think much about. I'm curious as to whether anyone else who has read the story, found themselves questioning what the ideal heaven would be like or if humans, being such complex creatures, really do think for themselves?
I definitely agree that perhaps a purpose of the story was to exemplify the lack of uniqueness-- in my mind I imagined sheep flocking haha.
ReplyDeleteIn my blog I focused more on the hilarity of any part of culture from an outside perspective so I'm glad you talked about this aspect.
Letters from the Earth definitely caused me to question the common views of the Christian heaven. I never really realized just how boring it sounds until Twain so clearly explains it. Another aspect of the Christian heaven that I always had difficulty accepting was the fact that there is no marriage in heaven. Being married, I have a hard time viewing anyplace in this life or the next where I am not allowed to be married to my husband as a heaven. Another interesting aspect to consider.
ReplyDelete~Amanda Renslow
I also found myself thinking about concepts brought up that I hadn’t previously thought to look at. It was interesting to read your take and the whole Letters from the Earth reading.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I'd agree: these pieces by Twain make us think about heaven and other ideas that most people take for granted.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that this piece offered an interesting view of heaven. I think it's because we as readers can think for ourselves that we are somewhat taken aback by the concept of heaven in the story. I would argue that to a certain extent, everyone's view of heaven is different. I think it's interesting to think about how the concept of heaven in the story is extremely rigid and conforms to the religious dogmas that were prevalent at the time, and how Twain seems to be making the point that adhering so strictly to those ideas would result in a flawed experience.
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