Is their religion in your life? You may be surrounded by religion and just not know it. In Tim Gautreaux’s “Welding with Children”, the main character Bruton feels that he is far from religion, while he is actually surrounded by it.
It’s not that Bruton is surrounded by preachers or actual biblical figures, instead he is in several different situations that reflect situations from biblical texts. He is also put into situations that are similar to stories from the bible.
A parallel from the story to a biblical story is shown as Bruton states, “I took another swallow and wondered why one of us didn’t do it. I looked out to my Caprice sitting in the shade of a pecan tree, shadows of leaves moving on it, making it wiggle like a dark green flame, and I realized we couldn’t drive away from ourselves. We couldn’t escape in the bastardmobile.” (206) In this scene Bruton is realizing more and more that his wife and daughter’s are oppressing the children. He sees that the only way to truly save the, is to take them away to a new town and start a new life with them. This is very similar to the situation that Moses from the bible is placed in when he is told to save his people from the oppression of the pharaoh and take them to a new land. They are both given the responsibility of several people who depend on them to help them escape their current ruling, or parenting, and give them a better life where they may prosper. Bruton also describes the shadow of the leaves on the car as “wiggling like a dark green flame”. It is as if the car is enflamed but not actually on fire. This image is also being made by leaves onto the green car. This parallels the burning bush in the story of Moses. God speaks to him through a burning green bush that is on fire but not actually burning. When Moses sees this, he also hears God tell him that he must save his people and take them away from the oppression of the pharaoh. It is no coincidence that this is also the moment that Bruton realizes the only way to save the children’s future is to take them away from their home and that he is the one who must do it. Some may also find similarity in that God tells Moses to tell his people that he was given his message from, “the God of their father’s”, considering that Bruton is, “the father of the children’s mothers”. Like Moses, Bruton’s mission is not an easy one. In fact, it seems almost impossible to him at the time, although he knows it is the right thing to do.
Another similarity in this situation is the idea of a plague. In Moses’ story, his people face a plague until he frees them. This plague is remembered by most as consisting of raining frogs, an infestation of locusts, water turning to blood, etc. Bruton is also faced with some stages of this plague in a way, on a much smaller scale of course. Gautreaux writes, “..we sat inside on the couch because the heat had waked up the yellow flies outside.” (p. 205) The flies coming out and bothering them enough to force them inside is comparable to a much smaller scale of the locusts. Another stage of the plague from the bible story is the killing of the first born son from every family. Toward the end of the story, Bruton comments that his daughter brings back the children for him to watch again. She brings back all of the children except for the oldest child. (p.210) This again is a representation on a smaller scale, in that the child is not killed, but just missing from the rest of the story. These are small ideas of how the family is plagued until Bruton finally decides to take them away, which he never does.
Another scene from the story that is easily comparable to religion is the scene where Bruton talks with Mr. Fordlyson. This scene shares many similarities with the Bible story of Adam and Eve and the Tree of Knowledge. The first obvious connection is that he says he sees Mr. Fordlyson sitting under the “Tree of Knowledge”. Gautreaux writes, “Bruton’, he said,. ‘Too hot to weld?’ I didn’t think it was a friendly comment, though he waved for me to come over. ‘Something like that.’ I was tempted to come over.” (p. 207) Mr. Fordlyson tempting him to come over is similar to the snake in the garden of Eden tempting Adam and Eve. He also describes Mr. Fordlyson as having, “little nickel-colored eyes”, “toddling off”, and being upset when talking about a preacher, “taking up serpents”. (p.208-209) These are all descriptors that could be used to describe a snake. Bruton also talks about grabbing fruit from the tree, a pecan instead of an apple, but instead of persuading him to eat it, Mr. Fordlyson tells him not to. This is quite the opposite of the bible story, but has many similair elements. Mr, Fordlyson tells him to find religion to help him solve his problems instead of telling him to stray away from it as the snake does. Mr. Fordlyson is also described as being an ex-deacon of a church, which makes him the opposite of a creation of satin and deception of God. Rather than tell Bruton to follow the women in their sin, he tells Bruton to stay away from women and that they are the root of his problems. The snake in the Bible tells Adam to follow Eve and eat the fruit from the tree. Towards the end of their conversation, Mr. Fordlyson is described as,” waving his finger in the air like a little sword”. (p.208) When Adam and Eve are kicked out of the garden of Eden, God has an angel with a sword of fire run them out of paradise. Mr. Fordlyson uses his, “sword”, to chase Bruton away from his ways and lead him into a paradise of enlightenment for him and his grandchildren.
In the end of the story we are left with Bruton still searching for an escape and for his salvation, which has been surrounding him the entire time. Thus proving that sometimes the answer we search for is right in front of our faces the entire time. So I ask again, is there religion in your life?
Works Cited
Gautreaux, Tim. “Welding With Children.” Perrine's Literature : Structure, Sound, and Sense. By Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson. Boston: Heinle, 2008.
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English 270 has taught me a lot about literature, writing papers, myself as a writer, and myself in general. With the help of my peers and Professor Daniels, I learned a lot of valuable skills for writing papers and analyzing texts. These new skills have helped me become a better analyst of literature and writer.
I came into this class enjoying literature, but never being very sure if I was very good at it. I also came into this class not really enjoying writing papers or being able to really display my thoughts through my writing. I found it hard to express my views and interpretations of literature and found that I never really had the right environment to do it in.
Throughout this term I was given a lot of positive feedback on my interpretations of literature. We had several class discussions in which I was able to really express my opinions of the texts and everyone was very willing to listen and express their own ideas as well. This was the most exciting aspect of the class to me. I greatly enjoyed reading the texts, and now have a better knowledge of how exactly to read the texts to find all of the hidden meanings and knowledge. It was interesting to hear what other people thought about the texts and how my opinions compared to theirs. I was also pleasantly surprised at some of the feedback that I got from my classmates and my professor on some of my opinions of the texts.
This class taught me how to really express myself on the page. I use to hold back in my writing and keep everything very proper and bland, but now I am able to truly express my opinions in an articulate way that helps me fully express my views. I am able to feel free when I write. I am no longer restricted to the same old five paragraph format. I have learned different ways to look at a text and also different ways to argue my thought on the text.
I have received much help from Professor Daniels this term, which has had a large effect on my writing as well. He met with me before and after I wrote my papers and helped me decide my topics, format my arguments, and choose my words wisely. This helped me realize the importance of each sentence, and even each word. I now write more carefully and take my time to assure that I choose the most appropriate words so that I say exactly what it is that I want to say. He also helped me find my thesis and my supporting arguments. I use to always have a very broad thesis and good supporting paragraphs, but seemed to take forever to get to the interesting parts of my paper. Now, I am able to express my more interesting ideas right from the start and look at them in much more detail than I use to.
My first paper taught me that I can have some great ideas and that other people do find things I say interesting, but I also learned that I can take too long to get to the things that people find interesting and can sometimes lose my genuine thoughts in a sea of broad repetitive ideas. It also helped me with my citations and supporting quotes.
My second paper taught me to use my secondary sources better. It also showed me that even if I have an original argument and correct supporting paragraphs, it can all be ruined without the support of secondary sources and strong language.
The many class discussions taught me several new ways to look at literature and have showed me sides to literature that I had read before that I never noticed before. It made reading much more enjoyable to me and something that I looked forward to rather than dreaded or saw as a job.
Overall, this class has made literature and writing fun for me. It has also taught me better ways to write papers and read texts. The class has made me a more confident writer and a better listener to others writings.
-Derek Sanderson
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