Secularization of Religion in In the Beauty of the Lilies

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 天津海运职业学院/赵然

【Abstract】 With the change of social structure, especiallythe appearance of consumer society, the Protestant ethics andreligious spirit of industriousness and continence graduallydisintegrates. The collapse of the institutional religion and thetransformation of conventional Christian belief is a chronicdisease of American society and is also the basic reason whichcreates predicament for the souls of ordinary Americans. Thecharacters in Updike’s novel Lilies attempt to seek one sort ofbalance between the sacred world and the secular life.

【Key words】 secularization; religion; sincerity of faithBefore the middle of the 19th century, the appearanceof consumer society, this system of distinctive culture andcharacteristics disintegrates. In different ways many classicalsocial thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th century all thoughtthat religion would either disappear or become progressivelyattenuated with the expansion of modern institutions, resulting ina “secularization thesis” aptly captured in the title of Freud'sfamous The Future of an Illusion. Previously accepted symbols,doctrines, and institutions lose their prestige and influence.

Organizational forms and doctrinal content are becoming evermore secondary in terms of the ways that religion is experiencedand practiced.

Updike suggests that religion has simply become transformed—Americanized. As is disclosed by the story of Essie that thereis no fierce rivalry between religion and film yet they are linkedclosely in one person. As is described in the novel, “she hadtrouble understanding how people could doubt God’s existence.

He was so clear there, next to her, interwoven with her, a palpablepressure, as vital as the sensations in the skin, as dependable asher reflection in the mirror.” (354).

From her infancy time, Essie has been repeating one actionwhen she is lying alone peacefully in bed and watching theceiling. That is moving her eyes from one corner of the roomceiling to the other, and then oppositely, making an X. This ismerely some little transcendental feeling still existing in Essie.

However, what is worth noticing is that even if she draws a cross,the cross is not identical with the “+” representing Christianityand seems like a twisted “+” . Or it can be said that X hasreplaced “+” , which symbolizes the traditional God has beendistorted or even replaced.

The God Essie believes in is completely differentiatedfrom that benevolent God of traditional Christianity which hergrandfather aspires to. Contemporary American critic DavidGalloway once talked about religion in Updike’s novels,“his characters often declare the existence of the sacred God,but their belief is not continuous, limited by circumstances andcapricious; in any situation, their belief cannot equate to theconcept of God in western tradition.” (Galloway, 1974: 37) Essieis certainly irreverent; she simply demands. The conception ofEssie is the representative of tendency of American society’sprevailing ideology. The collapse of the institutional religion andthe transformation of conventional Christian belief is a chronicdisease of American society and is also the basic reason whichcreates predicament for the souls of ordinary Americans. Since thegeneration of Essie, the religion has already become secularized.

The movie is the substitute for the traditional religion andrepresents the secularized pattern of religion.

On one hand, as a Christian, he is unwilling to see the declineof traditional religion in the modern society; on the other hand,he has to acknowledge the traditional religion must accommodateitself to the new situation for further development. Thus, thecharacters in his novels such as Harry and Eccels in Rabbit, Run,and Essie in Lilies all attempt to seek one sort of balance betweenthe sacred world and the secular life, to demonstrate the intangiblesacred in the material world and to combine them closely. Thepurpose is to alleviate the conflict between spiritual belief andmaterial enjoyments.

Encountering the trend of decline and secularization ofreligion, Updike shows his concerns and anxiety. He blames andcriticizes the so-called God, as the one whom Essie worships.

The religion combining God and the secular world cannot havethe transcendental strength which provides guidance and mentalsupport for American people as the conventional religion does.

What he appeals for is sincere faith and belief in God.

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