Summary: The Earthquake In Chile
Looking at today’s society, it is easy to see the judgement society has on certain types of relationships. Homosexual relationships were, and still to some today, considered sinful and taboo. Polyamorous marriages are illegal in the United States. Freud believes that the construction of civilization allowed for the creation of the rights and wrongs of sexual relations, suppressing people’s natural instincts. It is clear to see that the social body that is the religious culture of Santiago in The Earthquake in Chile epitomizes Freud’s idea that civilization suppresses human sexuality. In his book, Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud explores the different ways in which living together in a society strips away humans of their most natural
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Looking at the relationship, it is difficult to understand how their union could be considered immoral or wrong. Jeronimo and Josefa were simply following their natural attraction towards one another. Nevertheless, they are punished for it. The punishment and the sense of guilt from following their instincts would not have come about if it had not been for the church. The church was, arguable, the most powerful social body in this story, and with that power it is easy to construct different rules and taboos that come along with social relationships. It was the government, however, that had chosen to sentence Josefa to death and Jeronimo to be thrown in prison. Had it not been for Josefa being a nun who gave birth on the day of Corpus Christi, I do not believe the punishment would be so severe. Society even went on to not even care about Josefa’s health in order for her to be prosecuted and punished. Kleist wrote, “This incident caused an extraordinary public stir; without any regard for her condition the young sinner was at once imprisoned, and her confinement was scarcely over when by the Archbishop’s command she was put on trail with the utmost rigour” (Pg 51). This idea of sexual restriction went as far as to devalue someone’s health and their
Looking at the relationship, it is difficult to understand how their union could be considered immoral or wrong. Jeronimo and Josefa were simply following their natural attraction towards one another. Nevertheless, they are punished for it. The punishment and the sense of guilt from following their instincts would not have come about if it had not been for the church. The church was, arguable, the most powerful social body in this story, and with that power it is easy to construct different rules and taboos that come along with social relationships. It was the government, however, that had chosen to sentence Josefa to death and Jeronimo to be thrown in prison. Had it not been for Josefa being a nun who gave birth on the day of Corpus Christi, I do not believe the punishment would be so severe. Society even went on to not even care about Josefa’s health in order for her to be prosecuted and punished. Kleist wrote, “This incident caused an extraordinary public stir; without any regard for her condition the young sinner was at once imprisoned, and her confinement was scarcely over when by the Archbishop’s command she was put on trail with the utmost rigour” (Pg 51). This idea of sexual restriction went as far as to devalue someone’s health and their