The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a tale in which a simple action leads to catastrophic events. When the sailor shoots the albatross, a bird that has brought him and his sailors good luck, he does so for no reason. In ancient Greek tragedies, arrogance, or excessive pride, often leads to the hero's inevitable downfall. Furthermore, in the Catholic faith, pride is one of the greatest sins a person can commit. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner illustrates how these beliefs are held in good faith. Without a reason given to justify the senseless killing of the bird, it can be implied that the sailor's senseless killing of the bird may have only occurred out of pride. His personal pleasure in taking down a large creature was fleeting, as punishment soon fell upon the sailors. Because of his excessive pride, his ingratitude, and his ignorance of the wishes of others, the Sailor brought disaster to himself and his crew. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At the beginning of the story, the sailor stops a wedding guest to tell him the story of his defeat, as he is forced to do . In the story, the sailor is sailing through an area of ​​fog and ice after being driven by a storm. The crew had great difficulty until an albatross appeared, clearing the fog and breaking the ice to guide the ship safely across the sea. As the Mariner states, “The ice split with a thunder; / The helmsman guided us! / And behind arose a fair wind from the south…” (Norton 445). The albatross, a large sea bird, decided to be an auspicious bird and was welcomed with joy by the crew. However, the sailor did not pay attention to their gratitude: “God save you, old sailor! Come on demons, who torment you like this! —Why do you look like this? —With my crossbow I shot the Albatross. (Norton 445-446) In the passage above the wedding guest praises the sailor for his good fortune; however, the sailor interrupts him with a simple line. He did not provide an explanation for his actions or a reasonable reason why he would kill such a bird. It seems like a senseless act to kill a creature that helped them survive. However, the albatross is a large and rare seabird, and killing a large creature is an act worth boasting about. So, against the wishes of his crew, he shot the Albatross in hopes of gaining glory and status. The Mariner's crew was outraged by the killing of the Albatross. They shouted against the crime committed: For what was said, I had killed the bird That made the breeze blow. Ah unfortunate! they said, the bird to killThat made the breeze blow! (Norton 446). The crew saw what the Mariner did not: that the slaughter of a creature that had aided them on their journey was a horrendous crime. However, soon after the Albatross is killed, the fog lifts; this makes them doubt the very belief they held so strongly: “It was right, they said, to kill such birds / That bring the fog and mist” (Norton 446). To justify the crime against a righteous creature, the crew was made an accomplice to the crime. Therefore, one must remain firm in one's beliefs, because if one falters, doubt can cause ruin. Soon after, the ship is plagued by a drought and the sea begins to swarm with slimy creatures. The crew begins to fear that killing the Albatross has brought evil upon them. They attempted to place the blame on the sailor by forcing him to hang the dead albatross around his neck: “Instead of the cross, the albatross hung around my neck” (Norton 447).This simple act of hanging the albatross around your neck like a crucifix is ​​significant. The act of wearing a crucifix is ​​showing faith; the Albatross hangs around the Mariner's neck in a grotesque imitation of faith. In reality, he wears the Albatross as an admission of pride and because his crew could not accept their guilt. It can also be taken further to imply that Coleridge is attempting to portray the sailor as a fake Jesus figure. Just as Jesus Christ bore the sins of his people, the Mariner is bearing the sins of his crew. In this way the crew hopes to escape judgment. However, the distribution of blame did not work. It soon becomes apparent that the guilt of a crime cannot be erased or transferred, for soon a ship captained by the spirits of Death and the Nightmare Life-in-Death appears and one by one the entire crew dies. The Mariner describes this horror: "And every soul, passed me by, / Like the whistle of my crossbow!" (Norton 449). Interestingly, the Mariner compares the shooting of the Albatross with his crossbow to the departure of the souls of his crew. The simile made here implies that the Mariner associates the death of his sailors with his crime against the Albatross, and it is here that the reader first realizes that the Mariner feels guilty for his crime. This is further confirmed when he states, “And never a saint had mercy / My soul in agony” (Norton 449). Since the sailor actually committed the massacre, he suffers the worst punishment. While his crew is dying around him, he is not, but he is forced to live with his guilt. To illustrate the depth of his guilt, the sailor states: “And a thousand thousand slimy things / lived on; and so do I” (Norton 450). However, in his guilt, he appreciates the water snakes and blesses them, and this small act redeems him. The Albatross he wore around his neck like a grotesque trophy slipped from his neck and fell into the sea, as if the chains had been lifted around him. When the sailor wakes up, his dead crew rises up and begins to steer the ship. However their bodies do not contain the souls they carried before; instead, bodies are commanded by angelic spirits. The ship moves through the water with supernatural force. After the sailor passes out, he hears voices explaining the situation. He hears, “Is that him?” said one, "Is this the man? From him who died on the cross, with his cruel bow he laid down completely the harmless Albatross. (Norton 453-454) Again, the entry refers to Jesus Christ as the one who died on the cross so that the reader can see the sailor as a grotesque comparison to Jesus. A second voice warns, "... 'The man has done penance, / And other penances will do" (Norton 454), implying that the torment of the Mariner is not over yet. The Mariner's suffering continues after he reaches the land, he tells his story to everyone he meets: "And until my horrible story is told, / This heart inside me burns " (Norton 458). The reader might imply that this particular punishment is given to the Sailor to serve as a warning to others. Through the repeated telling of his story, the sailor becomes ashamed. Again and again the Sailor must admit his wrongdoings and reiterate what happened to his crew due to his arrogance. The very admission of the crime is the opposite of pride, and for this reason it is an appropriate punishment. Furthermore, the spirit may have given this punishment to the Sailor to instill greater awareness in others. This is illustrated when the sailor finishes telling his story to the wedding guest and leaves the wedding stunned. Coleridge states: He went as one who had been.