Evil’s origin begins with Adam and Eve using their special gift, free will, to commit the first sin. They sinned because they were tempted from the free will to choose between following or disobeying God’s orders. Paradise Lost is an epic written by John Milton that describes the fallen angel Satan and the fall of man. The Grand Inquisitor by Fyodor Dostoevsky is about an archbishop who talks with Jesus and wants to burn him as a heretic. Paradise Lost and The Grand Inquisitor both discuss free will and the stories of two benevolent characters that use their free will to choose evil. In Paradise Lost and The Grand Inquisitor, the main characters Satan and the Grand Inquisitor are evil because they use free will to choose evil over good.
Satan and the Grand Inquisitor at first follow the path of righteousness before they became poisoned with evil. They are both supporters that were deeply pledged to God in similar ways. Satan was an important angel as described by the dialogue between Archangel Raphael and Adam.
“Satan, so call him now, his former name
Is hear no more in Heav’n; he of the first,
If not the first Arch-Angel, great in Power,
In favour and preeminence,” (Milton, 658-661, Book V)
By being one of God’s most illustrious angels, Satan proves his devotion towards God by serving him. He is so zealous that he desires to be God’s only second in command. Similarly, Satan’s dedication to God is like the Grand Inquisitor’s. The Grand Inquisitor served God as a follower and preacher of his word. “It’s long— eight centuries— since we have been on his side and not on Thine” (Dostoevsky, 238) The Grand Inquisitor, like the Church’s predecessors, followed God’s word and Jesus for a long time before they abandoned God an...
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...n. That deception will be our suffering, for we shall be forced to lie.” (Dostoevsky, 234) Although the Grand Inquisitor is evil and follows Satan, he does it so others are free from it. He willingly becomes a villain so he can save others. The Grand Inquisitor reason behind evil is on the opposite spectrum why Satan chooses evil. Both characters have reasons that justified their reason but the Grand Inquisitor believes he is doing good.
Paradise Lost’s Satan and The Grand Inquisitor’s the Grand Inquisitor chooses evil because they were once good beings that were tempted by the desire for power and their personal goals. They were both ambitious and thought they were doing the right thing by overthrowing the powers above them. Satan and the Grand Inquisitor both used their free will to do good but chooses to sin against God, the one that gave them free will.
Satan is the core of Milton’s master piece and no matter how he is interpreted; the overall complexity of his character cannot be overlooked.
Good and evil can be summed up as a difference between rational and irrational thoughts, with the former being related to “good” and the ladder to “evil”. This is a view shared by Immanuel Kant and his Categorical Imperative. In the movie Schindler’s List, we are presented with two individuals, Oskar Schindler, who by the end of the movie displays characteristics of a man following rational thoughts, doing acts that he would want to become universal maxims. On the other end of the spectrum, we have Amon Goeth. Goeth follows his irrational thoughts, using the Jewish people as a means for his own ends.
Satan is an allegorical representation of God the Father. Both Satan and God are seen as Father figures; God as the Father of all that is virtuous, and Satan as the Father of all that is wicked. Just as God is the King of heaven, Satan claims himself King of Hell. God is the originator of Goodness, as Satan is the originator of Evilness. All in all, Satan is a perverse representation of God.
Since the beginning of time, fairy tales, stories and legends have shared a common theme where good and evil are played against each other. In the story of “Beowulf”, translated by, “Burton Raffel”, there is a hero who plays as a good character, and there is also a demon who rules the dark side. The hero Beowulf, agrees to take a journey to conquer the evil monster Grendel. But when Beowulf is trying to defeat the beast, Grendel fights back, causing integrity and generosity to vanish. The common theme in various tales like in Beowulf is, good vs. evil.
The lines that define good and evil are not written in black and white; these lines tend to blur allowing good and evil to intermingle with each another in a single human being.
As children, we hear many stories about the interactions between good and evil. Since each story or fable have different characters, the description of evil and good are different from one another. The good character will have different characteristic compared to evil one.
Typically, when someone thinks of religion, they think about worship of a higher power, compassion for all living things, and a general love of the world. Satanism, while a religion, does not fit these conventions. The faith holds no belief in a higher power, is rather selfish in nature, and paints a bleak picture of the world and its workings. In addition, Satanism has controversy riddled history dating back to the seventeenth century. Due to the religion’s unconventional nature, it is often looked down upon and its principles and values are ridiculed. To better understand a faith like Satanism, it helps to look at it alongside a more familiar and commonly understood religion like Christianity.
This sources provides a well of content and most importantly a look at Satan. This in-depth look lends a great hand in the sorting of details. The timeline given will be a great help.
Wicked, dishonorable, corrupt, villainous, malicious, and vicious all have one thing in common: they define evil. A person or a group of people that display these qualities are often to be defined as evil beings or creatures. Two people that have many of these characteristics developed within them are Iago from Shakespeare’s Othello and Lucifer from the Bible. Both Iago and Lucifer are developed with many “evil” qualities woven intricately into their character development. The representation of each “evil” characteristic gives them something they have in common allowing the description and portrayal of both Iago and Lucifer in literature show the audience they share common “evil” characteristics and that they lead to chaos and downfall.
Satan frequently characterizes “the tyranny of heaven” and employs negative diction in his depictions of both heaven and God (I.124). His negative portrayals of God and his kingdom highlight his utter dissatisfaction with being subservient to God and, from that, his desire for autonomy. In the exposition of the text, Satan’s emotions toward God make themselves apparent when Satan “throws his baleful eyes / That witnessed huge affliction and dismay / Mixed with obdúrate pride and steadfast hate” (I.56-58). Satan reveals himself to be furious with his continued subjugation to God as well as his inability to truly revenge himself against his subsequent punishment. According to Satan, God’s dissimulation of his power tempted Satan and others to rise
In order to attempt to discern if Satan is a tragic hero, his character must fit a certain profile. According to Aristotle's theory, the tragic hero has the potential to be great, but is doomed to fail. The tragic hero, although fallen, still wins a moral victory. The general characteristics follow that the tragic hero is a noble, is responsible for their fate, contains a tragic flaw, and is doomed to make a severe error in judgment. Eventually, the tragic hero falls from a high status, realizes the mistake that was made, faces and accepts their death, and finally ends in a tragic death. It is important to state that, in all tragic heroes, the audience is affected by fear and/or pity. In Paradise Lost, the reader is easily able to relate to Satan, even pity him at some points...
Milton shows that the potential for evil was innate in these beings and was not the result of corruption from an external force. Lucifer believes himself to be God’s equal and desires omnipotence for himself. Lucifer’s pride is his undoing, and he is cast into hell where he becomes Satan. The pride is intrinsic to Lucifer’s nature and results from God giving angels free will. Indeed, Satan later considers repenting and seeking God’s forgiveness upon seeing Earth and all of God’s creation and being overwhelmed by emotion. However, he realizes that even if he did receive forgiveness, he would grow dissatisfied with his position in heaven once again and fall a second time “book four quote “ . This establishes evil as being a constant part of Satan; the evil could not exist without the good, but it is an inherent part of
second in line, in a position of subordination. So, Satan chooses to be evil, if God is
Milton's introduction of Satan shows the reader how significant Satan is to Paradise Lost. He uses Satan's heroic qualities to his followers, and his ability to corrupt to show the thin line between good and evil. Satan was one of the highest angels in Heaven and was know as Lucifer, meaning, light bearer. This shows he was once a good angel. Milton makes the reader see him as a leader and a strong influence to all in his presence. He best describes Satan's ways when stating, "His pride/ had cast him out from Heaven, with all his host. / Of rebel angels, by whose aspiring/ To set himself in glory above his peers" (Milton Book I). Satan's pride was the main reason that God banned him from heaven. Satan always tried to be number one and a leader, instead of following in God's shadow. He would of lived a life in Paradise forever, but he had to follow his feelings as he states, "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven" (Milton 31). This shows how strongly he felt about not being above everybody else.
Ask anyone to draw Satan and you 'll get a red snake-like figure with horns and a pitchfork. Satan, as introduced in the Hebrew bible is an unworthy adversary of God. His longing to be like God is quickly recognized and dealt with. God banishes him from Heaven and sends him to Hell. That 's the last we see of him until he talks with God about his faithful servant Job. In each interaction we see Satan in, we get only a glimpse of who he really is. Satan 's motive is not developed and we assume he does evil simply because he is evil