Mousetrap

When I was going to a class in preparation for my first communion at a Lutheran church I attended when I was younger, the issue of communion as a representation of receiving the body and blood of Christ was a difficult one for me. I remember one time I argued with my pastor about whether or not the bread was the actual body of Christ. He said that it was, and I thought he was mistaken. The act of communion, to me, always seemed to be a representation, a symbolic action. Reading the Mousetrap and understanding the historical context of the Altar made a huge difference in how I viewed the work. The context of this poem helped me relate more to it specifically because I have a personal experience with being required to view communion a certain way before I was allowed to participate. As a 13 year old, I lied, I agreed that I understood and accepted the practices of the church I attended when in actuality I did not. I was not to fond of the Altar when I first read it, but after reading the Mousetrap and going over the poem in class I can appreciate it much more.