Article Analysis Essay on "Paraclesis" and "Of Cannibals"

Introduction

The cruelty of war, cultural differences, and human equality are the main themes in "Of Cannibals." Besides, Michel de Montaigne describes the cannibalizing customs to depict the barbaric and savagery traditions in the native Brazilians' lifestyle. On the other hand, Erasmus of Rotterdam ridicules the theologians from their prejudice against pagans. The pagans have a comprehensive understanding of their philosophical doctrines while the staunch Christians have little knowledge of Christ's teachings. Erasmus uses satire to expose ignorance among Christians in understanding their virtues on supreme happiness. Montaigne and Erasmus have used prejudice, "the three men," and how society treats its enemies to depict the similarities and contrast between their divergent views.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Erasmus of Rotterdam and Michel de Montaigne acknowledge that cultural and religious differences influence the views people have on their enemies or neighbors. The society should encourage individuals to condemn misconceptions and to judge persons based on correct and straightforward allegations. As a result, an individual should not rely on incorrect perspectives to claim that one is a barbarian or pagan. In the essay, "Of Cannibals," Montaigne acknowledges that the native Brazilians are not savages or barbarians. The allegations that the nation is savage and barbarous are based on the cultural differences identified between the observers' community and the Brazilians' customs. According to Montaigne, the barbarism accusations are based on personal opinions since they are not founded on any significant reason or truth (2515). The comparison between the observers' customs and the Brazilians' traditions have been used to substantiate the observers' claims on savagery and barbarism. Such views depict the assumption that there is a perfect behavior, government, and religion in some societies. Erasmus of Rotterdam advocates for the use of truth rather than verbal agglomerations as an effective approach in expressing simple facts. Some of the theologians have opted to use their single-minded views to express their opinions on the philosophy of Christ. Some Christians have prejudiced views on philosophers that have led to them categorizing the Epicureans, Platonists, Stoics, and Pythagoreans as pagans. Most of the pagans are conversant with their doctrines, unlike the Christians who have partial knowledge on the teachings of Christ. Some of the Christians claim that numerous religious initiations and sacraments have brought them closer to Christ. However, the critics fail to recognize the disgrace that most of the staunch Christians are not aware of Christ's teachings on utmost happiness (Erasmus 120). The biased criticizers claim that it is absurd to compare Christ's teachings to those proposed by the earlier philosophers. The theologians believe that Christ is the only teacher whose doctrine came from heaven, unlike the philosophers whose doctrines were derived in Syria or Egypt. Therefore, prejudice has been used to reveal the perfect culture or religion based on the criticizers' opinions rather than straightforward facts.

In the two articles, "Paraclesis" and "Of Cannibals," the authors have used three men figuratively to emphasize their message to the readers. As per Erasmus, the three class of men have been assigned the obligation to ensure that Christianity advances (123). The tutors, clergy, magistrates, and princes were the three classes responsible for ensuring that the Christian religion proliferates. Erasmus claims that if the three parties collaborate, and overlook their interests, then the three classes will inspire the more people to endorse Christian virtues. As a result, the collaboration could lead to the emergence of genuine and authentic believers who will uphold the philosophy of Christ in logical propositions and ceremonies. The three classes of men offer the most effective approach to attract pagans into Christianity compared to using weapons or threat to convince. Therefore, the collaboration between the three classes of men forms a powerful force that is comparable to the truth. Montaigne alleges that the three men were ignorant that one day they would face dire consequences for tolerating corruption and disrupting tranquility and happiness in Brazil. The fraudulent deals will come to ruin the three men who had left their native homes to come and explore the Brazilian terrain. Montaigne confirms that the three men were seasoned travelers who had initially interacted with the late King Charles IX at Rouen (Montaigne 2522). During their interaction with the King, the men were shown the city's aspect, the residents' splendor and customs. They were mesmerized by two key issues. Firstly, the men were surprised by how grown up men who were obeying the orders issued by a child. They wondered why the adults were not appointed to issue the directives. "..., who were around the king should submit to obey a child that one of them was not chosen to command instead" (Montaigne 2522). Secondly, the three men reveal the social inequality that distinguishes the rich and the poor in that particular society. Nevertheless, the men were shocked that the poor did not revolt against the injustices that they were subjected to that reduced them to being beggars.

In the essay, "Of Cannibals," Montaigne suggests that the warriors should adopt more gruesome acts of torturing their prisoners. He claims that it is more barbarous to eat a human being while they are alive rather than consuming a dead person. Hence, the warriors need to torture the prisoners while they are alive to evoke their emotions, roast the captives progressively, and allow dogs to mangle the detainees to instill fear in their rivals. The hideous treatment is compared to the physicians who use the human's carcass to conduct in their medical research experiments, but their cruelty is not rebuked as the barbarians' customs. Conversely, in "Paraclesis," Erasmus suggests that Christians should acknowledge that some of the philosophers' doctrines correlate with the teachings of Christ. "The Stoics recognized that no man was wise unless he was also good; they knew that nothing was truly good or honest expect real virtue, nothing evil or shameful except dishonor alone" (Erasmus 124). Theologians need to recognize the correlation between the philosophers' and Christ's doctrines. Moreover, they should adopt liberal views to enable them to educate the sect members of the Christianity values that sink easily into the humans' mind without any compulsion. For that reason, the theologians can easily convince the sect members that Christ's doctrine was effective and authoritative since no philosophical school could be founded without an aspect of Christ's teachings.

Erasmus and Montaigne have discouraged society from nurturing biased opinions against other cultures and religion. In "Of Cannibals," prejudice has been used to classify the native Brazilians' traditions as primitive due to the cultural differences. Likewise, in "Paraclesis" Erasmus recommends the use of simple facts by theologians when classifying sect members as pagans rather than verbal agglomerations. Additionally, the two authors have used the phrase "three men" figuratively to support their themes. Erasmus claims that if the three classes of men assigned the duty of spreading Christianity overlook their interests, they would convince more believers to endorse the teachings of Christ. Montaigne uses the interaction between the late King Charles IX and the three men at Rouen to depict concerns on leadership and social inequality. Finally, Montaigne emphasizes that the warriors should adopt treacherous techniques to instill fear in their prisoners. Conversely, Erasmus advises theologians to integrate amiable approaches to express their diverse views against the philosophers' doctrines. A friendly approach will ensure that pagans' minds endorse Christian virtues as genuine believers. (1218 Words, 4%)

Works Cited

Erasmus, Desiderius. The Praise of Folly and Other Writings. New York: Norton, 1989.

Mack, Maynard, ed. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Expanded Edition. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1995.