Tocqueville First Twenty Pages Response

I didn't really know what to expect when I began reading Tocqueville. I've never read a book of poetry before. I've only read singular poems or a collection of poems pulled from multiple sources like the poetry packet we studied in class. I found that the poems in Tocqueville are very different in style and format, but they share an overall theme. The general theme the author seems to be dealing with is social and political issues on a global scale particularly concerning race and religion. Aside from this over-arching theme, the poems are very different in format.

The poem I chose to focus on is titled Ecclesiastes. From the title alone I can tell that the poem is about Christianity or a Christian holy text. The poem seems to be critical of the Christian system. He uses the words "rule" and "trick" repeatedly and set up the poem in an instructive sort of format. I think the words "rule" and "trick" are important because a rule is typically something you are obligated to follow and try to avoid breaking; a trick is usually a way of getting around rules without actually breaking them. In the case of this poem, the author sets up the stanzas so that both a rule and a trick are in almost all of them and the trick counteracts the rule. For example, he writes, "The rule is to make them feel they've come too late / The trick is that you're willing to make exceptions." This is the basic format; sometimes the trick comes first and other times one rule or one trick is stated and followed up by another line reinforcing the rule or trick. I think the format is important because he's kind of commenting on the rule system of Christianity. He could be basing his rules and tricks off of the actions of Christian leaders or followers in recent events and throughout history.

So basically I think the author is trying to say that the "rules" that the system of Christianity is supposed to exist by are being thwarted by the members of the belief system. But I think he could also be saying that the members have gradually changed the "rules" to fit their most recent desires. I think by naming the poem after a holy text from the Old Testament he's kind of criticizing the original "rules" but also the changes that have occurred and he's saying that both have a purposefully oppressive affect on other groups of people. I think he's arguing that the system, but not necessarily the values, of Christianity is oppressing groups of other religions and such by bending rules to fit their specific desires and outright tricking people; making them believe things that aren't true and giving them false hope.

I think there is more to be said about this poem but it's hard to keep myself from reading possibly too far into it. But I think that's why I liked this poem so much; because it is packed with meaning that I immediately began to dissect it. Also I think it says a lot about how belief systems come with pros, but also cons, and we don't always see the cons, especially with such a large and popular religion such as Christianity. Lastly, I think it also says a lot about the tricky behavior that seems to be prone to religious leaders. When someone has the power to influence a large belief system they usually cause some sort of corruption, and I think that is something that affects the world largely. So, this poem and the other poems in this book have really relevant issues that they address and may help shed some light on the process towards solutions.