the mariner’s EPIC RIME (wowzers)
Hana Hassan.
Many people wouldn’t become aware of the effects of their actions if there were no consequences for them. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor follows the story of a mariner who is aboard a cursed ship. The mariner learns about how his actions affect others and himself. Throughout the mariner’s encounters with the curse, he learns the lasting effects of his actions through consequences.
When the mariner kills the albatross impulsively, he is unaware of what the future will bring, and he doesn’t give it any thought. The mariner’s ship sails into uncharted areas. The icy winter stretches across the ocean for miles, and life is rare. When an albatross meets paths with the ship, the crew and bird form a positive bond, and as they continue with their journey, good luck comes their way. Coleridge writes, “And I had done a hellish thing,/ and it would work ‘em woe:/ for all averred I had killed the bird/That made the breeze to blow/ Ah wretch! Said they, the bird to slay/ that made the breeze to blow”(p#8). Without any reason the mariner proceeds to shoot the albatross out of the sky. The mariner’s shipmates debate if this was a good or bad thing. Some argue that depending on the albatross for good luck was a bad thing, and others argue that the albatross itself brought good luck with it. This is an example of the mariner's reckless behaviour, and disregard of the effects of his actions. Ultimately bad luck comes the crew way; a consequence of the mariner’s actions.
As the journey continues, the mariner starts to understand the consequences of his actions. As the boat sails on, things start to go astray. When the boat encounters the idea of death personified, he starts to work his magic on the crew. Coleridge writes, “Four times fifty living men (And I heard nor sigh nor groan)/ With heavy thump/ a lifeless lump/ They dropp'd down one by one.”(p.#11). After the mariner kills the albatross, he and his crew are cursed. Their punishment is death, yet the mariner doesn’t die. His punishment is to live on forever scarred by this encounter. This is when the consequences of his actions dawn on him. He now realizes the power of his actions. The other sailors died, but the mariner must live forever regretting his decisions
Finally, the mariner pays the price of his actions. As everyone aboard the ship is on the brink of death, his crew mates hang the albatross across the mariner's neck, representing the burden the mariner feels in the form of a curse. When the mariner encounters mystical sea snakes, he blesses them and the albatross falls off his neck. This is parallel to his seemingly random and reckless killing of the albatross, in which he didn’t appreciate nature. Although he is forgiven by the natural world, the curse still haunts him. Coleridge writes, “Since then, at uncertain hour/ That agony returns/ And till my ghastly tale is told/This heart within me still burns” (p.#22).He approaches the wedding guest because the only way to end his suffering is to share his tale over and over again. This shows that a person needs to put effort towards the idea of being “freed from their burdens” to be truly “free“, and the mariner shows that he recognizes the consequences of his actions by approaching the wedding guest.
In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the mariner learns how his actions affect others because of punishments. The story first introduces him as someone carefree and careless, demonstrated by the killing of the albatross and going on the voyage in the first place. Soon after he pays the price after everyone abroad the ship is cursed. As he watches his shipmates die off, one by one, the effects of his actions dawns on him. He is cursed to forever tell his tale, showing that he can never earn freedom from his past actions. For people to be aware of the effects of their actions without consequences is difficult, but remaining oblivious will result in a fate similar to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
