Why you should become superstitious
By Taylor Rice
Many people do not understand their importance to the environment, and the importance the environment should have to them.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a story in the form of an epic poem that tells the tale of a seafaring gentleman and his sea voyage. Through several instances the Mariner learns to be more mindful of the environment around him, and that all the lives of the plants and animals are just as important to the ecosystem.
At the beginning of his voyage, the mariner pays no mind to the wildlife, treating them as he pleases. There is a myth that an albatross is good luck, so when one settles on the boat, the mariner’s shipmates befriend it, feeding it their food and water. The albatross starts to trust the Mariner and his non-landlubber friends, when an unexpected thing happens. The mariner later recalled these events to a passerby: “‘God save thee, ancient mariner! / From the fiends, that plague thee thus!- / Why look’ st thou so?’ –With my cross-bow / I shot the Albatross” (Pg. 7). It is indeed very odd when the mariner shoots the albatross, for he has no reason to do so. The bird is considered good luck and had brought no ailments to the crew so far, yet the mariner shoots him. He has no respect for the environment and his instantaneous whims had more importance than the life of an innocent albatross. A curse is brought upon the Mariner for shooting the bird that brings good luck, leaving him alone and starving on a ship with the corpses of his shipmates. Even then, he doesn’t yet learn an appreciation for living creatures.
The mariner begins to understand that shooting the albatross was not the right thing to do, but that understanding does not spread to other creatures because he does not see the consequences without experiencing them. The mariner is surrounded by misfortune; everything around him is dying or dead, except the small sea life (little fish, algae). “The very deep did rot: O Christ! / That ever this should be / Yea, slimy things did crawl / Upon the slimy sea.” (Pg. 9) When the animals and plants became visible, he thinks they are ugly and slimy, instead of admiring the fact that they were alive and that nature is beautiful.
As the curse of killing the albatross from the spirits gets worse and worse; spirits possessing the corpses of his shipmates and bioluminescence (they didn’t know about bioluminescence then; it seemed magical and deadly, like the light of an anglerfish ), the Mariner understands that he shouldn’t have done what he did. Seeing that all the consequences pointed to the death of a well-meaning seabird, he starts to regret his actions and begins to see the importance of everything and how it is connected. He then sees the sea-snakes rippling the water around the boat, and exclaims: “O happy living things! No tongue / Their beauty might declare: / A spring of love gushed from my heart, / I blessed them unaware. (Pg. 13) The mariner subconsciously blesses the sea-snakes, breaking the curse which has befallen him. He learns to appreciate the life around him and understands that every soul is equally important to the web of life. The ancient mariner grows throughout his story, he becomes more aware of his impact on the environment and the way that he acts towards other living organisms.
By the end of his journey, the mariner learns to value the environment around him and the lives of everything in the ecosystem. When the mariner shot the albatross, it was a key moment in his journey, a moment that would help him understand the meaning of life. The curse brought upon him by the death of the bird brought him to understand that the unnatural passing of a creature has an impact on everything around it, spiralling through connected webs.
The Mariner’s voyage brought him to the fact that everyone and everything is connected, and every action has consequences. He learned to find respect for the environment.
