TOW #17 - "The Hills of Zion"

This week I decided to read "The Hills of Zion" by H. L. Mencken, which I had heard of before, but never knew what it was about. To my surprise, my interpretation of the title meant that the essay was set on Mount Zion Jerusalem wasn't all that wrong. Even though the setting was 1920s Tennessee, it had just as much religious fervor as Jerusalem might have. While Mencken had travelled to Dayton, Tennessee to attend the trial of John Scopes, he ended up experiencing something much different. Christian 'extremists' were rampant in the small center of Rhea county. A woman passing through was offered a Coca Cola before her returning journey in the hot sun, but she refused because it "...was prohibited by the country lady's pastor, as a levantine and hell-sent narcotic." (108). As strange as it might seem, the country lady was practically running out of town before the woman who offered her the Coca Cola could bring her ice cream that she asked for. This event in the essay along with many other provides vivid imagery for the reader, and is important in showing how religion affects the small community (as you will later see...). At night, Mencken decides to attend a sort of 'late-night' sermon on a townsperson's farm. Sneaking up, he can see that the pastor is borderline screaming in the name of the Lord, and as he finally takes a seat among the others, they are participating in the strangest form of worship I have ever heard of. The audience members of the sermon surrounded a girl who had 'asked for prayers' and began praying and speaking in tongues all around her. "Her head jerked back, the veins of her neck swelled, and her fists went to her throat as if she were fighting for breath. She bent backward until she was like half a hoop. Then she suddenly snapped forward. We caught a flash of the whites of her eyes. Presently her whole body began to be convulsed--great throes that began at the shoulders and ended at the hips. She would leap to her feet, thrust her arms in the air, and then hurl herself upon the heap." (111). This strange act of what seems like 'catching the holy spirit' was not an uncommon practice for the town. In fact, the whole thing seemed like just an average evening for them. This strange example of imagery is very important in helping the reveal the author's purpose because it shows how religion was such a governing institution at the time. From giving up Coca Cola, tea, coffee, and pies to convulsing in prayer on farm at midnight, religion was these townspeople's whole life. It was there when life got rough and helped them determine right from wrong. Ultimately, it gave them the stability they needed in such a rapidly changing society.