Lions and Religion

 One image that caught my eye in The Secret River is the image of the lions at the gate posts along with mentioning the church and religion. The lions are first mentioned on page 10 and it states,” On the gateposts there were snarling stone lions that his mother lifted him up to look at, but they made him cry out in fear.” This is the first instance of the lions and church being mentioned, but this sentence shows how Will is deeply afraid of religion and he sees God as a complex and powerful figure, but he can not understand God and the church. Usually we see many people using religion for comfort, but to Will, we see that the church deeply scared him. When Ma is sick, she has a hallucination that she is a child back at the gate posts, but this was a harmful hallucination for her. She then dies, but later on Will throws mud at the lions. On page 20 it states,” He got the muck out from under his coat and hurled it at the nearest one.” Will is frustrated because he sees the lions and church as something forbidden or unreachable as the higher classes tend to cling to religion rather than the poor folks. It is almost as if the poor people don’t have a reason to pray and have hope for something that will never come, but the rich people do not struggle like the poor, so religion provides comfort for them.  Will acting out also relates to where Ma was buried because she did not have her own grave for herself due to lack of funds which is another reason Will is mad at how they are at the bottom and how social order is corrupt. He sees being poor an inescapable which is very true according to the information provided in the text. As the novel progresses, I will continue to look out for religious references and I will create new conclusions and thoughts. 



Comments

  1. Bailey BlackJanuary 9, 2022 at 3:07 PM

    I wrote about this image as well. I really like what you say about how religion is more comforting for the upper classes than the lower ones. The image of white stone lions staring down on the working classes of London really evokes the idea of social hierarchy, where the rich live these pristine lives from high above while the poor are forced to live under their gaze.

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  2. Avery PiersonJanuary 9, 2022 at 10:50 PM

    I also found this image, as well as the theme of religion in the novel in general very interesting. William's relationship with religion seems very complicated already, and I hope that it is further explored throughout the book. It would be a cool research topic to explore the relationship between religion and economic status. For example, (I think this was during the novel's time period, but could definitely be incorrect), wealthy individuals used to pay priests in order to "get into heaven."

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    1. Michelle BJanuary 11, 2022 at 12:02 PM

      The example you cite was more typical of earlier, medieval Catholicism and was part of the reason for the Protestant reformation that challenged such corruption. But you can see how religion or the church offers the working poor of London no hope or possibility for change, at this time which may be why Will throws mud at it.

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  3. Isabella FernandezJanuary 10, 2022 at 3:02 PM

    Bianca, I also found the image of lions and the theme of religion to be a very compelling aspect of this book. On page 10, Thornhill described the church as being a void and "a place with no charity" and said that "God was as foreign as a fish." Although it seems as though he does have a fear of the church and of God, he went along with societal norms, and attempted to integrate this belief in an all-powerful God in his life. This can be seen on pages 22-23 where he stated, "As Jesus is my saviour... As God is my witness," as confirmation of truth of his statement.

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  4. bella burleighJanuary 10, 2022 at 10:28 PM

    Wow, I really like your thoughts on the theme of religion. At the end, you said Will views being poor as inescapable. This, too, I think is a reason as to why he sees religion as scary or just simply not helpful to him. Why would he pray about escaping being poor if he believes being poor is inescapable? Religion seems to be, in his mind, for people who can hope, and Will does not feel there is any hope left for his position in life.

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