Baptism: Chapter 18

“Baptism can mean a host of things, of which rebirth is only one. Literal rebirth—surviving a deadly situation—is certainly a part of it, just symbolic rebirth is the point of the sacrament of baptism, in which taking the new believer completely underwater causes him to die out of his old self and to be reborn in his identity of a follower of Christ. It has always seemed to me that the whole business probably ties in with some cultural memory of Noah’s flood, of the whole world drowning and then this small remnant being set down on dry land to restore life to earth, cleansed of the sin and pollution that had marked human life right before the flood”

When thinking of baptism there is a certain thought that always comes to mind, a ritual using water that admits a person to have membership to a church. Baptism is symbolic of a person’s religion and for God to take notice. It is universally practiced among a majority of the world regions making it a common ground of religious tribute. However Thomas Foster in Chapter 18, If She Comes Up, It’s Baptism, shows baptism in a whole new light connecting water, baptism, and rebirth all together. In literature when a character drowns or comes close to drowning it is usually for a remarkable reason for it causes “profound plot implications” for the characters. A near death experience of drowning can be the reason for everything to change at that very moment transforming the character. Before the character can undergo this alteration they must be prepared to have a characteristic changed, for example going from the weak one to the strong one. “The thing about baptism is you have to be ready to receive it.” It is uncomplicated to put rebirth and baptism beside each other to compare. Both can use the aid of water as a way to “get rid” of old. Baptism uses the water to save the person being baptized, purifying them. Water is used in literature as “restorative and cleansing” occasionally rebirthing the character. “Baptism is a sort of reenactment on a very small scale of that drowning and restoration of life.” One thing a reader must keep in mind though is that characters do not reform every single time they get wet in literature, the act of getting wet must have symbolic meaning greater then hopping into rain puddles. Instead a character must transform or gain something from jumping in the rain puddles, similar to losing self concisions in return for self freedom and expression.