Carlyle: Work

        The world as one has created a necessity to reach and ultimately obtain true satisfaction; Carlyle makes this clearly obvious that no one can be oblivious to this global aspiration.  “Work” itself is elevated to the level of divinity, as it is called “sacred” and the only means to true “happiness.”  Human nature is known to form a kinship to the prosperity and comfort that results from wealth, yet none seek work with the fervor and passion it relies upon.  Man is born to work, thus any contrast leads to “perpetual despair.”  At birth man is ignorant but learns that through labor and the conformity into reality, “man perfects himself.”  The illusion of Christ’s resurrection is made through the sermon-like diction; for “it was been written”; that the purifying fire at work will only free the soul from their pity.  “Blessed is he” who holds a “life purpose” and becomes noble towards the standards of society; for only then can man become pure and stable.  Through work, individualism is thus destroyed and ignoble the tyrant.  For only them will knowledge be “held good” and finally contain the harvest of darkness will bring more satisfaction than the heaps of wisdom, for the life will only be filled with despair.

        Through and abundant array of biblical allusions and the descriptive imagery to portray the spoils of individualism and the consequences of ignorance, Carlyle praises conformity and those whose life purpose is to benefit the wholeness of society.