If She Comes Up, Its A Baptism!

Literary Tools
These ideas are inspired by How To Read Literature Like A Professor.

Literary Baptisms

1. Baptisms can take place in any amount of water
a. A sink
b. A river
c. A rain storm
d. An ocean
e. The examples go on and on

2. A baptism is a rebirth, sometimes very spiritual, sometimes not so spiritual—often a character is “dunked” three times within the story before the totally transformation happens.

3. A baptism can exorcise fears

4. It is almost always a outer ward sign of an inner transformation—the character is usually more aware of God working in their life after a baptism.

5. It is a heart beat away from a drowning…drowning comes with its own set of symbols, but they are like the flip side of a baptism

a. Drowning implies guilt that can’t be washed away
b. Desires that can never come true
c. Change that just can’t quite happen
d. Misunderstandings that can’t be solved
e. Unbearable pain



Birth stories and Baptisms seem to always go hand in hand because a baptism is a spiritual birth. The soul is reborn fresh and new. Some of the most powerful baptism/birth scenes for me take place in my favorite movies….Matrix, Big Fish, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, and even in comedies like Splash.

The first books I think of are, Song of Solomon, The Mists of Avalon, and Touching Spirit Bear. These books are very important to me as well as showing how baptism can really show an inner change in the character. The characters are fundamentally different after their experience.