One of the questions we were asked in class was, "What does this novel suggest about the Christian’s role in the world?" While the message that this novel promotes is hidden behind layers of imagery and description, as well as sparse conversation, I think it has to do with how the role of a community conflicts with it's ideas about purity. Thom's school teacher opens his mind to ideas that question the ideas defended by the church. While Thom's church focuses on separating the "good" from the "bad" through judgement and shunning, the teacher introduces a purpose for community to strive towards. In a letter that he writes to Thom, which Thom reflects on at the end of the novel, he says, "We are spared war duty and possible death on the battlefield only because we are to be so much the better witnesses for Christ here at home."
Thom becomes passionate about this aspiration to witness, and sees church authority figures, such as Deacon Block, as having ignored this call by enforcing rules about the purity of the community. Block chases out members and non-members who don't conform to his ideas while claiming to follow Christian teachings. However, Thom's disagreement with Block is tempered when he found himself punching Herb in a brawl. I believe that he sees the hypocrite in himself and realizes that being a witness in not just about making the right choices, but also about following through with them.
Good point, Josh--that before he utterly condemns Block, Thom needs to realize that he shares the same human urge to violence. Do you think there is a message about forgiveness here--that reconciliation within the community is at least as important as providing a united "peace" witness to the outside?
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts. What do you think happens to Thom after that ending scene? Does he join the military or follow the Mennonite ways by staying home and farm? Or is either Thom or Block "thrown out" of the community?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if maybe the whole barn scene at the end wasn't just ignored by the church. I mean, maybe the elders didn't look into it further. It was so big, such a huge violation of Mennonite beliefs that the overall reaction was shock I think- and I wonder if it wasn't big enough to cause the entire congregation to take a step back and start to think about some of the questions Thom had been asking throughout the book. Maybe Block steps down on his own- it seems like his main reaction was remorse rather than anger. Maybe he concludes that he has failed and gives up.
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