Character Analysis: Since Sarah

Free Will Being baptized as a Christian shows commitment in ones faith. When one becomes baptized, that means that they have accepted the Lord as the savior of their sins. Sarah, a young girl who doesn’t understand her religion, does not know when she will choose to be baptized and whether or not she even believes in it. Being a preacher’s daughter, you would expect “being saved” to be the main objective. However, Sarah’s family never pushed her to be baptized. At a point in her life, Sarah finally realizes that being baptized requires no specific time, but when you know the moment is right. After her father’s passing, Sarah’s whole aspect on the thought of baptism transforms. Sarah’s initial belief about baptism changes over time when
She knows where the host, wine and the robes come from for her dad and the choir. She says, “…I had made a game of dispelling the mysteries of worship with a gleeful secular eye…” (Lee P5). Meaning, when her father talks about something symbolic, such as the wine, she thinks that everyone else believes that the cup contains the actual blood of Christ. She doesn’t understand that many people know where these objects come from and just represent symbolic matter. Sarah also cannot tell the difference between dad and preacher. On Sunday mornings, she only sees her dad as dad, not a representative of Christ teaching the congregation about religion. Sarah sees church as something magical and theatrical, not a learning sanctuary to obtain more information about God. Not until later can she identify and comprehend her father’s teachings to the
Sarah resists going to church because she does not understand the content being used since the service happens to be more for adults. She understands that an important part of her religion is to become baptized, but doesn’t know the purpose or why she would want to or need to be baptized. Sarah expects there to be a straightforward sign from God telling her directly to be immersed into the holy baptismal water. At her age, Sarah does not get that the absolute gesture she depends on will never come to her; she will have to know in her heart when that time will occur. After years pass, and Sarah’s father passes away, she can now comprehend the tradition of baptism and figures it is the right action to make. Sarah feels that her father will finally be proud of her for making up her mind and accepting Jesus Christ. However, she never gets baptized because of her father’s passing. Sarah says, “I never went up to take my father’s hand, and he never commented upon that fact to me” (Lee P18). Without him by her side, she believes that becoming baptized will not have any importance to