A Death in the Family: Bias against the Catholic Church
In this day and age, there are many Americans who hold biases against the Catholic Church. With this, many people are faithful in nature to provide us with comfort and condolence when events in life take a turn for the worse. In a work titled A Death in the Family, American writer James Agee provides his reader with his particular bias against the Catholic Church, and with this, shows trust in nature to provide people with peace during hard times. In James Agee's A Death in the Family, Agee explores his bias against the Catholic Church, and in turn, celebrates his faith in nature's power to provide us with solace and grief. When reading A Death in the Family, many people believe that James Agee does not explore a particular bias against the Catholic Church and does not celebrate faith in nature's power to provide us with solace and grief. Only two characters in the novel believe in religion, which might cause one to believe that religion does not play a major role in the novel. Also, the parents in the novel disagree on the topic of religion. Near the beginning of the story, Mary prays for her religion not to come between her and Jay, and it is obviously something that husband and wife feel different about and disagree abo
ut, which might also be cause for thinking that Agee does not fully explore a bias on the Catholic Church. Early on in the story, when Rufus asks Mary many questions about death, she answers only using religious terms and ideas. In Part Two of A Death in the Family, the reader can see how opposed the rest of Mary's family is to her religious beliefs. Also, Mary greatly desires to raise her children as Catholic children, but Jay and the rest of Mary's family do not see the point in such action. With this, people can survive and move on, just as life itself goes on. Nonetheless, they try to remember fact that she derives some comfort from religion, even if it is hard for them to understand or appreciate. In Part Three, religion becomes something that is comforting to Mary but that excludes her children. However, it seems that Jay and Mary have a relationship that is stable enough to endure their differing ideas. Although Mary and Hannah are the only two out of all of the family members who deeply believe in God and the Catholic Church, that does not mean that religion does not play a major role in the novel. Even after the funeral, when the children embrace their mother, they can feel a change in her when she starts to pray, and the feel isolated. In conclusion, James Agee's A Death in the Family explores his bias against the Catholic church and in turn, celebrates his faith in nature's power to provide us with solace and grief. Agee does a good job illustrating the important ideas that his novel was based on, particularly about religion and nature's power to provide solace to the suffering. However, religion can be considered the most distinct topic of exploration by Agee in A Death in the Family.
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