The Mariner's Curse
By, Aubrey Chambers
In the wild, anything and everything can happen whether you like it or not. In The rime of the ancient mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a man who we only know as the mariner goes on an epic journey, sailing across the seas, battling hunger and death, loss and gain. The mariner soon starts to learn that one small act can start a chain of neverending events that could soon lead to disaster.
Before the marnier had learned the consequences of doing things without thinking, he would do things without realizing how much of an impact it would make in the future. Now he will start to battle the open and endlessly vast ocean. Before this happened the crew made friends with a big friendly albatross. This bird has become so used to being near them that he will sit on the dock waiting for food. The mariner says, ‘‘With my cross-bow I shot the ALBATROSS”pg. 7). Right after this happens everything just starts to crumble before his very eyes. Soon things start to not seem right and not do what they were supposed to.
The mariner is still doing things without thinking but now he is able to see what happens when he does them. After a week without water and food he and his crew comes across a ship that looks normal until it sails a bit closer. “Are those her ribs through which the Sun Did peer, as through a grate? And is that Woman all her crew? Is that a DEATH? And are there two? Is DEATH that woman’s mate?’”(pg. 11). This shows from when he kills the albatross weird things started to happen and he is now thinking that he might have caused a major chain of events that might lead to his death.Later in the book more things are starting to go wrong and the spirits of his fellow shipmates finally disappear.
The mariner realizes how much chaos he has caused by doing things without thinking and has now sailed to a dock and is waiting for another boat to lead them in. ‘The boat came closer to the ship, But I nor spake nor stirred; The boat came close beneath the ship, And straight a sound was heard.’ Stanza 1 page 21. This shows that with that first action of killing the bird it gave him a curse and now it is starting to lift. He starts to learn that some actions can leave many deadly and non deadly consequences. When he first befriended the albatross he thought the friendship would never end but then it hit him that he needed to shoot him once he shot him everything just went downhill. They started to run out of food and water quite quickly and then a boat that looked quite like a ghost appeared and all of his shipmates died on the spot and when going back to the dock his ship collapsed and he fell into the water.After his many close encounters with death many things happening that will change his life forever, he has become a stronger man in his mind and soul.
