From the beginning of The Sorrows of Young Werther, Werther emphasizes his connection with nature in order to embellish the tragically creative character he presents to Wilhelm. As his infatuation with Charlotte grows and he deplores the injustice and misfortune of her situation, his opinions become distorted; we see his perceived affinity with nature become more twisted and less peaceful. A turning point in this transformation can be seen in his August 18 entry; For him, nature is no longer sublime and beautiful, but simply sublime and filled with the potential for destruction: Werther finds himself paralyzed by thoughts of his own destructive powers. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Werther describes the anguish of his unrequited love for Charlotte, which transformed his previous love of nature into torment. The extent of his torment is described in the form of a vision: it is as if a curtain had been drawn before my eyes, hinting at a Werther transformed in epiphany, expecting to feel attachment and unity with nature, but instead of prospects of eternal life, the abyss of an ever-open grave yawns before me. The image of a curtain drawn to reveal a Truth which concerns the prospects of eternal life has strongly religious connotations; despite its lack of precision, this phrase conveys a wealth of imagery associated with ineffable experiences as in biblical accounts of religious epiphanies; curtains feature prominently in descriptions of the ark and the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament --- where a curtain surrounds the heavenly presence. Such a religious tone indicates that Werther views this revelation with the fervor of a prophet, ready to allow it to determine his destiny. Inflated images dominate the rest of the paragraph: Werther finds himself overshadowed by storms, torrents, the ocean, time and Nature, the monster that devours everything. This corresponds to his fear of his own destructive power: on a certain scale, he too is all-consuming and could destroy a world in the same way that an earthquake engulfs a village. Werther finds himself in front of the abyss of a still open grave. , which symbolizes for Werther the precariousness of his life: that he can plunge into the abyss as easily as falling into a hole in the earth. While a tomb provides a clear link between this world and the next, an abyss is of a completely different category.footnote{Abyss, in its original meaning, means an otherworldly pit, contrary to the modern connotation weaker.} That Werther can grow into each other gives this paragraph a fantastical flavor: in Werther's dreams and visions, an earthly grave becomes supernatural and grows as he interprets it. Werther continues with this image of the precariousness of life: Can we say of something that it is when everything passes? Werther's question is more clearly categorical in German: Kannst du sagen: Das ist! is it all for you? One can imagine Werther standing at the edge of his abyss shouting these words into the turbulent gray sky, in the kind of stereotypically anguished monologue he would no doubt love to give. The imagery of blindly devouring forces reinforces this image, as Werther explains. on the ephemerality of existence: can we say anything other than what it is when everything passes - when time, with the speed of a storm, drags all things along - and our ephemeral existence, precipitated by the torrent, is engulfed by the waves or rushing against the rocks? Although Werther changes his metaphor for this fateful natural force three times during the.