What The Rime of Ancient Mariner Symbolizes

The Rime of Ancient Mariner is one of the best poems in the English literature. When Coleridge wrote it, people didn’t care much about it. Now it’s a poem that is read all over the colleges in American culture. What makes this poem to be so special and significant? When I first read it, I was shocked of how complicated it is and many words in it are unknown to me. First off, The Mariner is a sailor who tells the tale of his adventures in the ocean with all the ship crews and the albatross. Obviously the tale symbolizes something significantly important, because it’s not as simple as many would think who just read it their first time. A question people might ask is why The Ancient Mariner story is on the ocean, by Antarctica, and it’s in the coldest climate on the planet Earth. The Mariner and his crew members on the ship seem to search for something, and they look for a way to get out of the cold, cruel place in Antarctica. Then they see an albatross that is showing them the way out of the horrible situation, but Mariner shoots it and albatross dies. Most likely the crew members of the ship symbolize people who wanted Jesus to help them out, and give them the needs necessary for living. Albatross probably symbolizes Jesus Christ, because albatross is treated like a person and Jesus Christ was often times compared to a bird metaphorically. The Mariner made a huge mistake by killing the albatross and it was so bad that it counted as a sin. Albatross was the help for the crews on the ship and Mariner too, he was the light in the dark and a life saving hero. The only thing men on the ship had to do is follow the albatross and he would save their lives and make them happy. Albatross symbolizes Jesus Christ, because Jesus showed people a way out of their problems and he was leading them to happiness and salvation, but they chose to kill him. All of the people on the ship die and this symbolizes the people who crucified Jesus Christ and after He died the people were on their own without help from Him.