Reflection: The Crisis, No. 1

This excerpt was a very interesting read. I read it once to myself and it did not have that much of an effect on me as it should have, seeing how it was about trying to encourage the people of the colonies to rise up and help fight for their independence even though the battle was going badly thus far. But then I decided to have the book program read it to me so that maybe I would better grasp what Thomas Paine was trying to convey to the reader. Like most of the time, having someone else read something to you helps you understand what someone would have felt like if the author was actually saying this directly to them instead of just a person reading it at home to themselves. Admittedly I was a little bit disappointed that the voice was not the person from Jonathan Edward’s Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and Patrick Henry’s Speech to the Second Virginia Convention. Okay, I know that I do say that about basically every story or excerpt that we have to read but I really do mean it this time. The message would have been much more convincing when someone was yelling it at you. The guy that did it did have a couple of parts where he had some passion, but definitely not as much as that other guy does.

So, now on to the subject of how this work shows that it is indeed a work of the rationalism period; there were many instances where Paine used more of a rational approach to the problem rather than using a religious pretext, which would have made the work more of a puritan writing rather than a rational one.

When Paine started talking about how the hard fight that they were fighting currently was going to eventually pay off, and it would be even better just because of the fact that they had to work so hard at it, he said 

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. (Paine 134)

This quote shows how he is trying to convey rationally how they need to keep fighting so they can attain their final goal: freedom. Another quote that shows rationalistic writing style is “It is surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through a country. All nations have been subject to them:” and then he goes on to list examples and how it pertains to the colonies (Paine 135). This shows how he is using the reasoning that history repeats itself to try and prove his point. He goes on to explain how sometimes panic can be good. It brings things to light that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. That it brings out the “secret traitors” that would have gone unknown (Paine 135).

Paine, Thomas. "from The Crisis, No. 1" Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 134-136. Print