Ancient Mariner Allegory

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” seems like it could be a Christian allegory. It starts off with a Mariner, who represents all people. He gives his testimony, or story, of how he was saved. In the beginning of his tale he reports that he was sailing smoothly. A great storm rolls in on him and he does not see a clear path out. The albatross finds him and guides him out of the storm, just like Jesus guides each person through their hard times. As long as the man follows the albatross, the bird brings smooth sailing. If a troubled person follows Jesus, he will make their life great. Just from the beginning here, it is clear to the reader that this story must be symbolism for a Christian’s journey through life and how their lives will start to
get hard, but when they turn to God, he will help them through their troubles and set them free.
The story continues with the shipmates complaining about the gloomy weather that the bird brings and urging the captain to kill it.
Similarly, the people around a Christian can persuade them that God is bringing nothing but trouble and convince them out of believing in Jesus’ helpfulness. So the Mariner kills the bird—just like a person might abandon and turn from Jesus—and his situation takes a drastic turn for the worst. Without the bird the wind dies, the boat stops, and the Mariner starts to starve. When individuals abandon Jesus times get hard and their lives come to a troubled stand still. This Mariner ties the albatross to his neck and wears it to remind him of what he did and its consequences. This becomes an emotionally heavy burden for him to carry. He feels the weight of it and he feels guilty for what he has done. We too hold heavy burdens when we are by ourselves and push Jesus away or “kill” him. The Mariner’s situation starts to go bad as all his shipmates are killed and he himself slowly starts to die. He starves and becomes dehydrated but is kept alive by a mysterious character. This is just like how even in a man’s worst times; God still looks over that man and keeps him going. The narrator suffers immensely and goes through some horrible trials, all of which seem to come from another mysterious being. This villain could be expressed as Satan, giving somebody hard times but not ever overpowering God’s will for them to
live.
Once he finally blesses the snakes the bird drops off his neck and the weight is gone. A Christian’s burdens can be cast off when they learn to love God’s creation and everyone in it. Also, they need to stop looking at all the bad in their lives and instead look to the good and bless their good circumstances. He is redeemed from his crime and forgiven for killing the bird because he learned to love creation again. In the same way, as people learn from their mistakes how to do the right thing, God forgives them for what they have done and that person learns a valuable lesson. As the Mariner begins to pray and thank God, angelic beings guide a fishing boat to him. In the same way when a Christian cries out to God, He comes to their rescue. He also can use other people to help someone out of their bad situations. When he gets off the boat it sinks, vanishing forever. This is just like how God totally forgives a Christians past and never brings it back up against them. The man tells his tale to the fishermen and when he does he feels free. People also remove the weight from their conscience when they confess their troubles to one another. When the man finally is back on shore he repeatedly gets a horrible pain in his body and it does not leave until he has shared his story with a person that God seems to choose. Just like this Christians are encouraged to share their stories with others so that they will not make the same mistakes that they did. And that horrible pain is the Holy Spirit inside of each Christian pushing them towards what God wants for them and maybe that person they are talking to.
In conclusion, there are many similarities between this story and a Christian’s life. Both contain many of the same key elements about what sorts of trials a person may face in life. The mariner’s tale contains characters that seem to represent those in Christianity. And finally, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and a Christian’s journey through life both involve aspects of failing, dealing with our troubles, then being saved and set free.