Barry J. Owens Jr. October 9, 2008 Eng. 262-Paper 1 Dr. Liesl Ward The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Have you ever made a decision that you eventually regretted? We make decisons on a daily basis. The decisions that we make have consequences. Some of the consequences are good and some are bad. We should be very careful when making decisions, because there are some decisions that you cannot easily change. In Mr. Coleridge’s’ poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, we find an elderly man who has made the wrong decision. In the Christian aspect, a bad decision is a sin. It is hard for me not to believe that Mr. Coleridge develops this poem from a Christian aspect. The theme of the story reminds me …show more content…
The poem also reminds me of the story of Adam and Eve. I find it interesting that the mariner told this story to a person that was going to a wedding, When Christians witness to others most of the time the listeners do not want to listen. The ancient mariner commits the sin, realizes that he has sinned, faces punishment for his sin, is redeemed from his sin, and is required to share his testimony with others. The ancientmariner makes the wrong decision when he decides to kill the albatross. He did not have any need to kill the albatross. He did not have anything else to do. He didn’t even think about what would happen if he killed the albatross. He just did it. Most of the time when we make decisions we do not weigh the consequences. The mariner realizes that he has “done a hellish thing” (2.91). He does realize his wrongdoing until after it is done. Most Christians do not think about their wrong decisions while they are in the act. It does not dawn on them until after it is done and most of the time, by then it is too late. Themariner probably wanted to impress the other men that were on the ship. The albatross reminds me of Jesus Christ. He died because mankind sins. The albatross died to change the