Student Question

In "Nightfall", what ideas do Anton, Theremon, Sheerin, and Latimer represent?

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In "Nightfall," Anton represents pure reason and the hard sciences, while Latimer embodies religion, wonder, and reverence for the past. Sheerin symbolizes the use of social science to understand and manage human emotions and madness. Theremon serves as the voice of the people, reflecting experience, cynicism, and doubt. Together, these characters explore the tension between science, religion, psychology, and public opinion.

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Anton is associated with both science and reason, but a kind of pure reason: that of the hard sciences.
Latimer is associated with religion, but also with a sense of wonder, and a veneration of the past.
Sheerin is associated with the attempt to turn the human mind on itself (social science), and to use reason to deal with passion and even madness.
Theremon is the voice of the people and in some ways of experience. He's associated with cynicism and doubt.

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