The story’s allegorical levels vigorously explore the debate between theism and atheism. Lucifer champions the cause of science and evolution in the face of the monk’s religious beliefs.Īs their discussion progresses, Michael mentions offhandedly that the professor’s flying ship is about to crash into some unnamed object in their path. Chesterton’s second novel, The Ball and the Cross, chronicles a hot dispute between two Scotsmen, a Roman Catholic, and an atheist, whose fanatically held opinions inspire a host of comic adventures. Lucifer regards Michael in a fairly belittling manner, referring to his beliefs and traditions as simplistic and irrational. We find Lucifer and Michael in the midst of an engaging philosophical conversation regarding Michael’s devotion to Christianity. Also aboard the ship is the professor’s friend, Michael, a monk whom he found in Western Bulgaria and lassoed “out of his own back garden” (4). and the humor and melodrama of its crazy plot.In the beginning of Chapter 1, readers find themselves aboard Professor Lucifer’s flying ship, a vessel that he has invented himself, along with many of the other tools and gadgets found upon it. Gardner alerts readers as well to the pleasures of its "colorful style.
Appraising the book's many intriguing philosophical qualities, Mr. Martin Gardner's superb introduction to The Ball and the Cross reveals the real-life debate between Chesterton and a famous atheist that provided inspiration for the story, and it explores some of the novel's possible allegorical meanings. Their fanatically held opinions-leading to a duel that is proposed but never fought-inspire a host of comic adventures whose allegorical levels vigorously explore the debate between theism and atheism. The plot of The Ball and the Cross chronicles a hot dispute between two Scotsmen, one a devout but naive Roman Catholic, the other a zealous but naive atheist. Serialized in the British publication The Commonwealth in 1905-06, Chesterton's second novel first appeared in book form in America in 1909, delighting and challenging readers with its heady mixture of fantasy, farce, and theology. Chesterton's fiction, The Ball and the Cross is both witty and profound, cloaking serious religious and philosophical inquiry in sparkling humor and whimsy.
0 kommentar(er)
