Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle felt, and possibly rightfully so, that people in society were moving to a state of mind that was less concerned with helping others and making the world a better place and more concerned with their own personal gratification. Now I will say that I am someone who believes that you should always try to do better for yourself, always improving yourself and not becoming complacent. However, improving yourself is about a lot more than just making more money, being successful is about a lot more than just longing for gold as Carlyle’s reference to Midas described (480). Carlyle used his sarcasm to show that a perpetual longing for money and wealth may very well get you just that- but money doesn’t buy happiness, and it didn’t for Midas either.

Something that I really liked about Carlyle is that he used current events, things that were actually going on, that had actually happened, to help prove his point. From Gospel of Mammonism, he talks about an Irish widow that likely had no means of getting food and maintaining shelter for her children who goes in search of finding someone who might be willing to help her in this desperate situation and no one does. The “Charitable Establishments” that Carlyle refers to all turn her away, and eventually she becomes ill with typhus fever (480). Not only does she become ill and dies, but so do 17 other people around her. It’s interesting here how Carlyle shows a lack of humanity of the people around her, meaning that they refuse to help her. But then we see just how much of a human she and the others were, becoming sick the way that they did, showing their mortality.

Carlyle warns that if England continues in this manner, we will see the wrath of God: “Our England, our world cannot live as it is. It will connect itself with God again, or go down with nameless throes and fire-consummation to the Devils” (484). Attempting to foreshadow the coming of God, Carlyle is making a point that humans can either rise like gods or fall like devils. On page 485 he says, “Let God’s justice, let pity, nobleness and manly valour, … testify themselves in this your Life-transit to all Eternities, Gods and Silences,” reminding us that this thing we call Life is only a portion of the Eternity that we are here for (485). We are here to work, but we are also responsible for each other.