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Sin and Suffering

Neither the Mariner nor the Prisoner, however, have any ways of escape from their confinements - the former is held in captivity by the sea and the other elements which are under the power of the avenging Spirit, and the latter is imprisoned and guarded in the castle built on an isolated rock by Lake Geneva.
             Although the causes for their sufferings are quite different they may be seen as comparable on a certain level. When the Mariner kills the albatross, his shipmates accuse him of having "killed the bird that made the breeze to blow". Thus the albatross could be interpreted as the creature (or being) that has the ability to bring along with it the wind, which ultimately appears as the symbol of change. The bird, then, can be seen as endowed with a certain degree of creativeness as if it were some natural deity which had decided to help the sailors in their distress. The slaying of this benevolent being unleashes all kinds of supernatural powers, some of which seek revenge for the murder, while others attempt to alleviate the Mariner in his suffering during which he is expected to become conscious to his misdeed.
             From another point of view one may prefer to consider the albatross as a fellow-creature ("As if it had been a Christian soul, / We hailed it in God's name") which deserves to be treated humanely, even as if it were a person; the underlying idea that all God's creatures ought to be treated equally (good) is quite explicit here. When the Mariner commits murder (although without consciously understanding the significance of his action) he in effect breaks one of the Ten Commandments, and has to go through punishment and penance in order to be absolved. Both views seem to be offered alternately throughout the poem, which only adds to its complexity.
             The Prisoner's sin is closer to an offence against God - despite the fact that he has not been imprisoned in order to answer for his own actions but for his father's "tenets he would not forsake".


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