An Essay on Man

“ An Essay of Man” by Alexander Pope transcends new world order by making his arguments based off that life is more on man, than it is on religion. I think he bases more of his arguments that man in general is given free will. In in most religions people are given free will, thus; they have the ability to choose from right to wrong. However, I think that Pope takes it a step further in his essay by pointing out that it is man who makes disorder in the world. Thus, also creating the existence of evil.  Pope writes, “ better for Us-Perhaps, it might appear- where all harmony, all virtue here-that never air or ocean felt the wing- that never passion discomposed the mind”(165-168). I feel what he is attempting to say it that no matter the circumstance it is up to man to make his own path and do good in the world. However, I do think that Pope acknowledges the world to not be that great, yet it is up to man to make it better.

One of the very interesting things I noticed in “An Essay of a Man” is that Pope capitalizes the word “order”. I am not quite sure what his does this, my educated guess would be that he is suggesting that the world needs better order. Pope closes his one stanza by stating, “the general ORDER, since the whole began- is kept in nature , it kept in man”(170-171). I think this few lines show how he feels about the religious order in the world by stating religion is there for the good, yet man possesses the ability to make it bad. All throughout his entire essay he writes of good and bad about man, and how religion is there to make a man better.
 
                                                               Words Cited                

Pope, Alexander. “An Essay of  Man.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Martin Puchner, et al. 3rd ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 2013. 86-97. Print.

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