On the basis of the poem "Upon the burning of our house" what generalization would you make about the Puritan attitude toward worldly goods??? Plz help
Answers
As a Puritan, Anne Bradstreet strove to live her life according to Calvinist doctrine while still having to cope with the struggles of her human condition (Mooney). When Bradstreet’s house burned down, she was struck with the reality of life’s hardships and presented with an opportunity to do one of two things. If she were to yield to her humanity and allow herself to be overcome by the loss of her worldly wealth, she could then blame God and turn away from Him. If she were to let her soul win out over that humanity, she could embrace the Puritan belief that God is still good and that she has a greater treasure waiting for her in heaven. In this she could draw closer to God, having learned to let go of her worldly possessions. Bradstreet struggles within herself for a time, but in the end she is able to arrive at a place where she accepts the loss of her material belongings and has her sights re-aligned on what truly matters – her relationship with God.
When Bradstreet realized that her house was on fire, her first response was to immediately cry out to God the moment she first saw the flames when she said, “I, starting up, the light did spy, / And to my God my heart did cry” (Bradstreet ll. 7-8). The thought of blaming or being angry with God seems to not even enter her mind. She immediately recognizes God’s sovereignty and the fact that there is no possible way she can survive this tragedy without His strength. She begs God to “strengthen [her] in [her] distress / And not to leave [her] succorless” (“Burning” 9-10). Bradstreet is frightened, as any human being would be in this situation – whether she was a Puritan or not – but the importance of this circumstance is how Bradstreet responded to that fear. It is evident from the beginning that she is a faithful follower of God in that she instinctually cries out to Him, even in the midst of this horrible and unexpected tragedy.
Soon after her outcry of fear and uncertainty, Bradstreet seems to calm a bit and she begins to even praise God, saying, “I blest his name that gave and took” (“Burning” 14). Bradstreet demonstrates great trust in God from the moment she first saw the flames, and in this it is apparent that she genuinely believes in Puritan doctrine. She was not angry with God in the slightest, because she acknowledges that everything she owned “was His own, it was not [hers]” (“Burning” 17). In this, Bradstreet is even thankful because God did not take everything, but left her with her family and enough to still survive. She asserts He could have taken any amount of her belongings and she still would not have been angry with Him, because it would be His right to take whatever he saw fit (“Burning” 19-20). After line 20, however, the tone changes again from her faithful, hopeful optimism to sense of strong lamentation.
Bradstreet describes walking by her old house and being reminded of the sting of loss she experienced in the fire (“Burning” 21-22). Though she knows as a believer in God that those things should hold little value, she admits she still struggles daily with the sadness she feels over losing them. She seems much less convicted about God’s goodness at this point, thought she doesn’t come right out and say that. The reasons she gave to still praise God and be joyous in the beginning seem to bring her much less comfort now as she stands face-to-face with the physical loss she endured. Bradstreet shows the extreme difficulty she is experiencing in letting go of her worldly possessions as she describes in detailed pathos everything she misses so dearly about that house (Mooney). She speaks of a wide range of earthly treasure she regrets losing, from the emotional wealth of laughter and entertaining guests, to her material wealth, or her “pleasant things” (“Burning” 23-36). In the midst of her dolefulness, however, she seems to snap back to her senses and to the reality of what she knows her outlook on life and the human condition should be as a Puritan.