Puritainism Essay, Research Paper

PURITIANISM

In the short story, Miss Temptation, Kurt Vonnegut does an unprecedented job of relating modern American culture in the contemporary time today, to the 17th century Puritans, and the outcome they had on us. This story is about a 19-year-old actress, named Susanna, who stuck out like a sore thumb in her town. This remarkable writing piece has a lot to do with Puritanism and nowadays. You can see that with the knowledge of basic Puritanism and a basic summary of the short story “Miss Temptation.”

Puritans were the strictest people that you would ever meet. The first puritans thought they were put on the top of a hill because god wanted them to be role models to the rest of the world. They believe that you can believe in nothing except god. They did what they did because they wanted people to look up to them. They were faced with a dilemma that either they listened to god and did what he said, or believe in whatever they wanted and suffer the consequences. They were so strict, that if you broke out into a run and started yelling on Sunday, you would get a ticket for working on the Sabbath day. Also if you kiss or hug your girlfriend or wife in public then you would be fined or ticketed.

This story is about a young actress named Susanna. She was perfect in every way. She lived above a firehouse and followed the same routine every day of waking up at noon, and going out on her porch. After that she would stretch, kiss her cat, fluff her hair, put on her earrings, lock her door, and hide the key in her bosom. And then, barefoot, she would begin her stately, undulating, titillating, tinkling walk. One day she went to the drugstore where she met a man who later embarrassed her. He went to her house and expected cool, expensive, rare stuff on the walls and floors, but when he got there it was nothing to brag about. He was so nervous when she was changing that he could not stop saying kitty, kitty, kitty, or petting the cat. It was a plain, ordinary, regular house. For him embarrassing her she demanded that he walked with her, and acted like he was proud to do it.

Kurt Vonnegut writes about a girl who in puritan society would be shunned, but in American society today would be treated like a goddess. She lived above a firehouse, which symbolizes the devil, and with the puritans involved that shows that she does not believe in the heavenly father. Susanna was an astounding woman according to the book. She had feathery hair and saucer eyes that were as black as midnight. Her skin was the color of cream and her hips were like a lyre, and her bosom made men dream of peace and plenty for ever and ever. She was the undiminished retrograde of anything that the puritans ever believed in. She slept until noon every day. That means that she didn t go to church on the Sabbath. She owned a black cat, and modeled bells around her ankles without shoes all day long. In the eyes of a puritan she in essence resembled a witch. That is unlucky for her because witches don t believe in god and the puritan s loathe that. She meets a man named Corporal Norman Fuller. He has just arrived back from 18 bleak months in Korea. In this story he represents the lonely, afraid puritan. He is afraid of love, and more than that sex, in a relationship before marriage.

Puritanism is not a very easy religion to follow, but basically it is what was introduced earlier. To summarize it, they fundamentally disgusted the idea of freedom of religion. They believed in one god and one god only. To sum up Miss Temptation I would have to say that, you may be sensual, and ravishing, and have people worship you, but there is always one person that detest what you do and who you are. Kurt Vonnegut showed us that you can be desirable, and famous, but in a puritans eyes be perceived, as a monster while in the eyes of others you are the greatest, most needed thing in the world.