Religion can have a prominent, important role in peoples’ lives who grew up in the church, or it can be nearly non-existent to some without any religious beliefs. Organized religion provides many with a set of moral values and ideals to guide their lifestyles, however, when divergence from these standards occurs, religion can act as a stressor as followers strive for acceptance. Rather than feeling respected, they worry about transforming into someone that the church supports. Including Christianity and agnosticism, religious affiliations are heavily emphasized and discussed throughout Joyce Carol Oates’ “Life after High School,” however their roles in all three main characters’ lives are drastically different. Faith acts as both a comforting relief and a source of turmoil in the short story, paralleling the confusion religion often creates for its diverse followers.
The majority of students attending South Lebanon High School in 1959 were “practicing Christians, of Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist stock” (486), creating an environment built strictly on Christian values. Among those students was Sunny Burhman, a devout Christian, president of her youth group, cheerleader, and member of the First Presbyterian Church of South Lebanon. Her faith was so strong that “she had not the slightest doubt that Jesus Christ, that’s to say His spirit, dwelled in her heart” (487). Her religion undoubtedly acts as a support structure for her during difficult times and situations. For example, when the quarterback for the high school team, Chuck Crueller, had been injured during a game and forced to undergo emergency surgery, Sunny formed a circle with her fellow cheerleaders to lead a prayer for him. They prayed, prayed, and prayed, and Chuck made a full recovery (488). Sunny’s religion assists her in daily life, certainly acting as a constructive aspect to her personality.
When Zachary approached Sunny in his attempts to court her, she utilized her faith in order to engage in meaningful conversations with him and pray for his well being. Christianity acts as a friend to her during her tumultuous stint with Zachary as a companion. Following his proposal to Sunny, she kneels by her bed to pray. “Please help Zachary to not be in love with me. Please help me not to be cruel. Have mercy on us both O God. O God help him to realize he doesn’t love me-doesn’t know me” (491). Resorting to religion as a coping mechanism works for Sunny and guides her through chaos when it is pushed upon her. Faith is a positive force on her life as she employs it as an aid in difficult times.
Conversely, Zachary Graff’s interpretation of Christianity may have been “perhaps too serious” (488). Zachary was also a Christian, baptized Lutheran, and had never failed to attend a Sunday service at the First Lutheran Church (488). These Lutheran ideals probably did not contain acceptance of homosexuality, leading to religious negativity in Zachary’s life. He had once “confided in Tobias that he prayed every morning of his life-immediately upon waking her scrambled out of bed, knelt, hid his face in his hands, and prayed. For his sinful soul, for his sinful thoughts, deeds, desires” (488). These sinful thoughts can be interpreted as thoughts about Tobias, which would be sinful according to his religious ideals. However, normal thoughts should not create that much worry in anyone’s life, especially when they are only considered sinful because they contradict certain Christian values, such as love between a man and a woman. Then again, Zachary’s religion was beneficial as a conversation starter when speaking with Sunny. He knew that Sunny believed that “simply by speaking the truth of what she believed, she could convince others” (487). So while religion did act as a beneficial route to sparking conversation, the intolerant values of Christianity could have been a leading factor in his final decision to commit suicide.
Once, while speaking about faith with Tobias, Zachary confided in him that he prays “to get through the day” every morning (489). It is quite obvious that Zachary does look to his faith for support, but receiving advice and guidance from an organization that does not agree with one’s feelings is not beneficial or helpful in any way. Zachary’s parents were encouraging Muhlenberg College, a church affiliated institution, for his future education (489). Attending a university where the Christian principles were upheld and encouraged would only further aggravate Zachary, particularly if he was struggling with accepting homosexual feelings.
After Sunny Burhman’s final rejection and the loss of Zachary’s last hope for a heterosexual cover up relationship, Zachary takes his own life on April Fool’s Day. They find his lifeless body in his car that was “littered with numerous items,” a Bible being one of them (494). The inclusion of a Bible amongst the disorder of his car recognizes the confusion Zachary must have been feeling about his sexuality. If one of the main reasons for his suicide had been rejection by the church, religion had acted as an antagonist when he diverged from the standards. If he had shared more of Tobias’ opinions on faith, Zachary may have lived past the age of eighteen to enjoy more of life.
Tobias Shanks, a character that is later revealed to have been Zachary’s gay love interest in high school, was a “self-professed agnostic since the age of fourteen” (489). Agnostics, often skeptical about God’s existence, yet reluctant to pronounce full atheism, are left to live by principles defined by their own uncertainty. So while the Christian religion does not endorse homosexual relationships, those living with agnostic beliefs feel freer to express those feelings that may be frowned upon by other faiths. However, the time period in which the story occurs must not be forgotten, as homosexuality was still a taboo during the fifties and sixties. By diverging from the typical faiths of the time period and community, Tobias is able to find a belief system that fits with his feelings and gives him security within his own faith. Agnosticism allows for that uncertainty and accepts the development of questions about God and faith. It is also practiced on an individual level, not in a community within the church walls. By creating one’s own level of faith, approval is not necessary from a bureaucratic organized religion that others take part in.
While no one faith is better than another, each may be more appropriate for certain individuals based upon their distinct beliefs. Religion acted as both a friend and foe in Joyce Carol Oates’ “Life after High School” when it provided some with positive encouragement and support, while instigating confusion on another’s behalf. Certainly organized religions can act as support systems and churches can teach values as children grow up going to services, however when an individual differs a little bit from those standards, a negative response from the church can be devastating to a person’s psyche. Creating personal views on many things in addition to relying on one’s church for support can be the best route as one lives as an individual that may differ from the norms.
Works Cited
Oates, Joyce Carol. "Life after High School." Perrine's Story and Structure. 10th ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson. Boston: Wadsworth, 2006. 484-498.
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After only ten weeks in Writing About Literature, I feel as though I have gained many useful techniques for future English classes and have grown in a group editing situation. While the course was different in its structure because of the minimal professor led lectures and increased participation of the small class, I feel like I learned a lot more from my classmates then I would have expected. Our class is composed of many aspiring authors, English majors, and current writers for school publications, whom all aided in the progression of my work from drafting to the final piece. The set up of miniature groups to bounce ideas around a few days before the final draft was due helped in formatting that polished paper and structuring a truly arguable thesis. The weeks spent on large group review and turning in end notes forced me to practice my editing skills, while allowing me to read my classmates’ work. I saw great examples of many literary tools, from daring theses and flawless language to the smooth inclusion of quotations and impressive transitions. These models will provide me with creative references when I write papers for other classes. Editing others’ essays also allowed me to correct mistakes that I often miss in my own work and evaluate theses for their workability. Seeing various cases that were argued well or were not concentrated enough to maintain a five page essay will hopefully aid in my future development of theses.
Covering three completely different subject matters made this course’s content more diverse; however each unit seemed a little rushed. I enjoyed fiction the most, as it is typically my favorite genre. I liked many of the short stories that were assigned, but failed to articulate a thesis that could be argued and had an original point for the fiction assignment. “Life After High School” was an interesting read, but I could not pick out that idea that needed further exploration and instead drifted towards more summary and a generic thesis that was obvious enough that it did not need proving. I think that I did not spend enough time in search of a feasible thesis and instead rushed to something more generic and easily supported. I hope that my revised version was able to extract a more original take on Joyce Carol Oates’ writing.
When the class shifted to poetry, I was not looking forward to analyzing poems. Poetry tends to be my least favorite genre of literature, and probably still is, however I did gain some insight on how to enjoy a poem without worrying about its deeper meaning. We beat a few poems to death in class, but I felt more comfortable when approaching the essay assignment. Learning about Cicero’s Classical Arrangement was also helpful in organizing a paper that required many secondary sources. After reading the death themed poems I took a unique stance on Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” that I was unable to fully support. If I had included a few more substantial pieces of evidence, my essay may have been more convincing. I think my history of working as a hospice volunteer led me to see the calm in Thomas’ more dynamic take on death, but I needed to make a more compelling case.
As we close the class out with drama, a funny film and creative one act plays offer a more lighthearted environment that will make for a pleasant close to the term. Our final magazine project is quite different, but again relies heavily on the group setting that makes students stronger. As with going through the endnotes we received from our peers, group work requires one to pick and choose the advice that seems most reliable and useful in our redrafting. The few additions I would make to this class include more professor direction on papers and possibly only a single day of peer editing per paper. Also, as our school pushes us to “go green” and be cautious of our effect on the environment, any possible venues to make our peer editing less paper heavy would be great.
Overall, I feel that this class was a success at furthering my writing skills and introduced me to some great literature and impressive writers. A lot of varying material was crammed into a short amount of time, making some things seem rushed, but the variety was greatly appreciated. I am glad I took this class and I hope my experiences with it will help my future attempts at writing about literature in other classes.
-Sarah Willis
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