Confessions For the Rest of Us :: Literary Analysis, God, Augustine of Hippo

Novels are written with the intent to entertain, textbooks to educate, and scripture to exhort. All writing has a purpose, intentional or otherwise. If this were not the case, writing would contain nothing of value. Autobiographies typically serve to inform the reader about the life of a specific person, yet, in Confessions, Augustine of Hippo displays loftier aims. Among other goals, he attempts to use his life story to indirectly guide others to God and truth, an objective to which he applies his considerable literary skill. Often famous historical icons seem to tower in the public eye, casting a shadow of influence that only increases through the ages; they seem somehow more than human. St. Augustine is just such a figure, yet his simple, candid commentary of his life in Confessions paints him as an ordinary man. Augustine went to great lengths to achieve this image, especially in the commencement of his narration. He begins by hyperbolizing his sin even in childhood stating, â€Å"At the time of my infancy, I must have acted reprehensibly† (Augustine 9), and continues this pattern of self-degradation throughout, not out of false humility, but to prove to his audience that he was not born a saint. Augustine spends greater time than necessary covering his ‘sin’ of stealing pears (Augustine 29-34), an act that most would consider a childish prank, and his sexual desires (in which he certainly was not the greatest sinner of his time) not only to explore the nature of transgression b ut also to build his reputation (or lack of it) with his reader (Augustine 24-28). Later in the narrative he describes what most would view as a moral triumph: I also recall how, when I had decided to enter for a poetry competition at the theatre, a soothsayer of some sort sent to ask what fee I would give him to ensure victory. But I replied that I hated and abominated those vile mysteries, and that even if the crown were immortal and made of gold, I would not allow a fly to be killed to bring about my success. For in his mysteries he would be going to kill animals, and by offering these creatures in honour of daemons, his intention was to gain their support for my winning. (Augustine 53-54) He then proceeds to condemn his intentions saying, â€Å"I refused sacrifice to daemons on my behalf; yet by adherence to that superstition I sacrificed myself to them† (Augustine 54).