Religion in The Known World

One of the central themes of The Known World is religion, which is interesting as the author, Edward P. Jones, claims that he is not particularly religious. Still, religion plays an important role in the novel as almost every character is religious to some degree. Religion is used by some characters to maintain control over slaves and others to justify their actions.

In The Known World, a man named Reverend Valtims Moffett comes to the Townsend plantation weekly to preach sermons to the slaves. It is clear that the reverend is not a man who accepts this task to help others to get to heaven. He himself is not a holy man as he has sexual relations with both his wife and sister-in-law living in his house. Instead of feeling regret for his actions and trying to ameliorate the situation, he relishes the conflict between the two sisters and continues to encourage it until one attacks the other. It is obvious, this is a man not motivated by his good will to preach but rather by his greed. He is paid by Henry for each sermon he gives and is hired by several other plantation masters. Moffett’s sermons are often about how slaves are sinning whenever they disobey their masters implying it is God’s will that they are enslaved and it is only right that they give their masters the work paid for when the slaves were purchased. It is stated that “slaveowners had begun to believe that their own salvation would flow down to their slaves; if they themselves went to church and led exemplary lives, then God would bless them and what they owned. And one day they would go to heaven, and so would their slaves” (p.88). This shows that the intention of masters in hiring him is to place spiritual shackles on the slaves that are stronger than any physical shackles.

Counsel Skiffington uses religion to justify his actions. He has a difficult life, once being happy and one of the wealthiest men in North Carolina. He had everything he could want from possessions to a doting wife and happy family to a successful plantation with many slaves. Tragedy struck his family in the form of a small pox outbreak that decimated the population of “A Child’s Dream”, Counsel’s plantation, killing most of his slaves and all of his family save himself. Counsel burned all of the buildings on the property down and traveled west rather aimlessly. He compares himself to Job, a character in the Bible who had lost everything he had had as well. The difference between Job and Counsel is that Job realizes he is being punished by God and repents. Counsel does not. Later at the Townsend home, when Mildred has been accidentally shot, Counsel finds $100 worth of golden coins in her belongings. Believing there are riches hidden everywhere in the house, he decides God has finally rewarded him.  Counsel prays “Thank you, O Lord. I cannot forget what I once had, but I will not resent you so much when I think of those old days and my dead loved ones” (p. 371). Knowing John Skiffington will probably not let him keep the wealth as he won’t believe he has right to it, Counsel kills him. He rationalizes the murder in his own mind as God’s will in giving him his reward just like God rewarded Job.

Though religion is meant to be a positive force, it is often used for negative purposes in The Known World.