On The Fence: The Struggle Of Theron Ware, Damnation Or Illumination
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Angel Flowers
Eng 285 MTWTH 8:00-10:45
Professor Chris Heafner
06/30/2004
“On the Fence: The struggles of Theron Ware, Damnation or Illumination?”
Harold Frederic wrote The Damnation of Theron Ware in 1896. It was first published under the name of Illumination throughout America and England. Frederic was not an overly religious man. He had a mistress and three other kids in addition to his wife and two kids. The title character Theron appears to be a strict protestant minister. The view of his world slowly begins to change as he adapts and starts to accept new ideas and knowledge. This novel is solely not about religion it is about struggling to find oneself and overcoming the barriers one places on himself through religion and society. Theron is not only damned at the end of this novel but he is also illuminated.
There are many struggles going on throughout Octavius and Theron,
The foremost struggle would be that of the Protestants and the Catholics. Other conflicts arise out of this struggle in Theron. He begins to struggle with his religion and his views of the town of Octavius. The struggle of the Protestants and Catholics also explains the towns competitiveness to convert and save souls in their church, especially the rich, new unprofessed residents. The Greeks and the Jews also represent another kind of struggle. Celia says, ” I divide people up in two classes, you know, — Greeks and Jews. Once you get hold of that principle, all other divisions and classifications, such as race or language or nationality, seem pure foolishness. It is the only true division there is” (200). The Greeks represent a free people, who live in the moment. They are a people of the arts and humanities, who did not fear their gods, but only acknowledged and idolized them. There were no rules to follow. On the other hand the Jews were abounded by the law. There was only one god, whom they feared and respected. They could not live in the moment. There focus was living right for the reward of eternity. Theron also struggled with his feeling for Celia and his obligation as a husband. This attitude causes him to mistreat and neglect his wife. He wants to treat her better but fails to hold to his conviction. The narrator notes, “It was apparent to him that he was going to pay much greater attention to Alices happiness and wellness being in the future than he had latterly done” (221). After meeting and getting to know Celia, Theron desperately wants to be like free like Celia. He wants to adopt Celias Grecian attitude. But when he asks Celia how she classifies him she says, “Both” (200). This is very true, although he wants to be Grecian, Theron still continues to preach and tie himself down to the idea of his protestant society. There is evidence of him still clinging to his old life and his ministry. He mortally fears the young boy Harvey finding him in the woods with Celia, and objects the idea of the piano. He is still conscious of what his religion means to him and what his Protestant community may think of him. These things are still of some merit to him, they were still holding him down, although he detests his job. While watching the young people rise to pledge themselves to the church he says, “The scene below would have thrilled him to the marrow six month, — yes, three months ago. The spectacle of these silly young, mourners–kneeling they knew not why (161). In the end Celia checks and confronts Therons hypocrisy by telling him what she really thinks of the new Theron. She says,
You thought it would amuse and impress us to hear you ridiculing and reviling the people of your church, whose money supports you, and making mock of he things they believe in, and which you for your life wouldnt dare let them know you didnt believe in. You talked to us slightly about your wife…. What you took to be improvement was degeneration (331-332).
Therons internal struggles cause him to fall and become a deplorable lowly man.
At first glance one may summarize the narrative to be about the fall of a minister. The story opens at start of spring during the middle of a protestant church conference in Tecumseh. This is strange altogether because the remainder of the story does not take place at all in this town. Frederic more than likely starts here to give you the impression of a fresh start or the beginning of something new. The season of the year also represents a beginning. Theron states, “It seems that we never feel quite so sure of Gods goodness at other times as we do in these wonderful new mornings of spring”(15). Theron is assigned to the small town of Octavius. He and his wife are both disappointed by this. Theron Ware gives the impression of a man very enamored and devoted to his calling. He is described as, ” Therons first view of Octavius, through the eyes of a protestant minister, is a town in need of great spiritual repair. The church is unsuccessful. It is not attracting any new members nor taking in nearly enough money. He feels the lowly Irish and the catholic religion overrun the town. He assumes, as a minister, it is his supreme duty to convert (non-believers and Catholics) and raise interest back in to the protestant church. Church trustee, Loren Peirce, describes the town as, “Overrun with Irish”(31). Through prejudice and ignorance Theron depicts the Irish as “sinister and repellent”, he says,
In the large cities most of the poverty and all the drunkenness, crime, and political corruption were due to the perverse qualities of this foreign people, (the Irish) — qualities accentuated and emphasized in every evil direction by the baleful influence of false and idolatrous religion…. Certainly his second reason, however, would have been that the Irish were on the other side. He had never before had occasion to formulate, even in his own thoughts, this tacit race and religious aversion in which he had been bred (50-51).
This is evidence of how close-minded Theron is. He discriminates the Irish based on the boyhood notions he was taught, rather than on first hand knowledge. Theron soon begins to abandon his beliefs of the Irish and the Catholics after he meets Father Forbes and Celia. Therons observation of extreme unction causes him to become fascinated by the ceremony and he then starts to formulate new ideas to replace his old assumptions of the Irish. The author writes, ” First of all, he (Theron)