City on a Hill Symbol Analysis

Winthrop’s most famous quote—“for wee must consider that wee shall be as a citty upon a hill”—uses a topographical symbol, the city on a hill, to illustrate the enormous historical pressures his colonists face in their experiment of Puritan utopia. A high point on a hill is visible from miles around; the image suggests that “the eies of all people are upon us.” One misstep in their godly agenda, and everyone will know. Winthrop is notoriously scarce on practical details in his sermon. He doesn’t mention what life will look like when his group arrives in New England—only that this life will be hard. So it’s telling that his only physical description of the place is metaphorical and not literally accurate. Taking extra gravitas from its origin in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount—“A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14)—Winthrop’s symbol serves to heighten the drama of their mission.