In Godric, Frederick Buechner uses multiple characters who are at once medieval and modern to not only tell the unusual story of an imperfect saint, but to describe through lyrics medieval and setting his modern style comments, evaluations and beliefs about what it means to be holy. Buechner chose to choose Saint Godric as his subject to bring to life the intriguing story and unsolved puzzle of an imperfect saint. With his additions Buechner created empathetic characters in modern and medieval language. Through many episodes of the novel he uses poetic language to break down his critics about the historical period and uses philosophical expression to recreate the past using his current ideas. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Buechner's first example of this is found in the relationship between Godric and Aedlwards. The reader's first introduction to Godric's father is “his name means Keeper of Bliss. If so, he kept it mostly to himself, that's a real shame. I pity Aedlward.”(Buechner 9), from these lines Buechner shows the reader that Aedlward has been absent in Godric's life and that Godric shows signs of resentment towards him. In the Catholic religion, honoring one's mother and father is a commandment and this rule is firmly maintained. So the fact that Godric outwardly expresses these feelings towards his father shows that Buechner challenges the reader's understanding of being holy. It uses the concept of a father not being part of his firstborn's life to show a contemporary approach not often seen in the Middle Ages. It shows the reader that being holy can sometimes contradict human emotions. The law of primogeniture has its origins in medieval Europe and its practices were often followed by families of all castes, this would have included Godrics. Godric is a semi-fictionalized life story, told through Buechner's research and artistry. With this in mind, it's possible that the character of Aedlward is loosely based on Buechner's father. Not only is Buechnner the eldest child but, in Frederick Buecher: Novelist/Theologian of the Lost and Found written by Marjorie and Charles McCoy, they reveal that “Buechner's characters and plots are drenched in tears. There is, for example, the suicide of one's father." From this it can be assumed that Buechner incorporated his feeling of having been abandoned by his father or, as Godric admits, that “fear kept Aedlward from us, and next to God what he feared most was the empty belly. He had a good cause” (Buechner 10). During Buechner's early childhood his family moved often as his father looked for work, and in 1936 Buechner's father committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, the result of his belief that he had been a failure. The Catholic religion may state that one should always honor one's parents without speaking against them, but Buechner described Godric as a medieval yet modern character by honoring his father through understanding. Godric was able to understand that although he wanted his father around more, his father was worried about not providing adequately for his family, so he spent most of his time working. The idea of ​​a father feeling pressured to provide for his family can be rationalized into any historical period, modern and medieval. Another example of a medieval yet modern approach to being holy is found through the character of Elric. Like Godric, Elric is a hermit who punishes his body to honor Christ or to make up for his past sins. He is assailed by voices, demons and seems to believemay the devil tempt him constantly. It is precisely these demons that distinguish Elric from Godric, who has visions of the Virgin Mary, angels, John the Baptist, and even Christ. Through Elric, Buechner shows how the McCoys say in their work: “faith always runs the risk of taking itself too seriously, insermons or religious literature, we might too easily focus on some ideal of God and forget our humanity” (McCoy and McCoy 13). As a result of Elric's constant visions of demons and death, Buechner is able to illustrate that being holy does not mean you always have to be worried and worried about sin and the devil. Symbolized by his thoughts of demons, Elric shows that he is not ready to face death and as Elric trembles on his deathbed saying, “I fear that in Heaven I will miss even the demons” (Buechner 120). Buechner shows the reader a paranoid old man who has lived his life in self-punishment in solitude. Instead of using the gifts of the world to lighten his life, he chose to be haunted by demons, memories and mistakes. This is once again different from Godric who, as Medieval Sourcebook writes “Reginald of Durham: Live of St.Godric”, notes that “On various journeys he visited many sanctuaries of saints, to whose protection he did not wish to commend himself with devotion, more particularly the church of St. Andrew in Scotland, where he most frequently took and paid his vows..., and where St. Godric meditated on the saint's life with abundant tears. From there he began to desire solitude and to hold his goods in less esteem than before.” Godric has chosen to live a devout, if sometimes troubled, life, visiting sacred sites, unlike Elric who is ultimately still clinging to death and demons because the demons that have haunted him his entire life are better than nothing. Furthermore, at the beginning of the 19th episode Elric expresses to Godric “My skull is a chapel. Yours too. Thoughts come and go like people devoted to mass. But what about the hands that crave gold? What of the feet that burn to stray along all the soft and leafy paths of Hell, of the wandering heart that hungers for the love of mortal flesh? A man cannot live his life in his skull.” (Buechner 115) Although said through a medieval voice, Buechner uses this phrase as a universal voice understood by those who believe in any type of morality. The temptations, desires, or "demons" of life are always around and with Elric's death Godric was able to see that a life shouldn't be spent just worrying about demons. Buechner creates a modern character of a medieval hermit to demonstrate that being holy can also arise from praise, and that it is not necessary to be religious to understand the "itch", the "burning", the "absent heart" (Buechner 115) that comes from the forbidden desires of life. These forbidden desires were also seen through the complicated relationship between Godric and Burcwen. One of the driving tensions of the novel is Godric's relationship with his sister, Burcwen and with this Buechner has created relationships between the characters that the reader flips through the pages anticipating the moment when Godric and Burcwen consummate their feelings for each other. other. However, Buechner uses incest, one of the most long-established deadly sins and social taboos, as a grotesque image to break down the reader's pre-established conclusions about love and divergent relationships. Although incest is illegal, with the way Godric talks about his love, Buechner was able to use this atypical relationship to question the reader's thinking and traditions of love. When Godric cries saying, “The worst thing Godric ever did, he did out of love. It was neither an earthly love that seeks its own interest, but a love.