Thinking Activity: A Tale of Tub

 Tale of Tub

_Jonathan Swift

• "A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, that he is wiser today than yesterday." ...

1.) How far do you think Digression is necessary in the text “A Tale of a Tub”?

This essay is the first of two distilled from a lecture series on Jonathan Swift given by Dr. Abigail Williams of the University of Oxford and adapted for the Great Writers Inspire Project by Kate O'Connor.

n Swift's Tale of the Tub is a brilliant failure. It is a prose satire intended as a defense of the Anglican church, but it was widely interpreted by contemporary readers as an attack on all religions. At the time of writing it, Swift was a junior Anglican clergyman hoping for substantial preferment in the Church. The appearance of the Tale, and its assumed message, was a serious obstacle to his promotion.

22) Explain the symbols like Coats, Will, Three Brothers, etc. with the reference to the Tale in “A Tale of a Tub”. (Any four symbols should be included in your answer)

hThree Coats

The three brothers' coats are the central symbol of A Tale of a Tub. (Tubs, despite the title, figure only incidentally in the work.) Outwardly plain and simple, the coats are the brothers' sole inheritance from their father, who promises that they will last for a lifetime if cared for properly. In his will, he warns them against altering the coats in any way. These coats represent the practices of Christianity as originally revealed and commanded by God and as stipulated in the Bible (the father's will). Like the early Church written about in the New Testament, the brothers initially do a good job of sticking to the rules laid down by the will. It isn't long, however, before they are finding ways to excuse themselves from following the will too scrupulously when it conflicts with their immediate desires. This behavior is dramatized as a gradual altering of the coats in spite of the father's express wish to the contrary.

3) Identify any one movie/web series/song/poem/novel which talks about a sensitive topic like religion. Write in brief about it and explain what kind of questions are raised through that work.

When an earthquake destroys an atheist Kanji's antique shop, he decides to sue God. However, when Lord Krishna helps him fight the lawsuit and expose the corrupt charlatans, his faith is restored.

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