Criticism And Symbolism In Angels & Demons By Dan Brown

Erik Larson has organized The Devil in the White City chronologically, alternating between the construction of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and the evolution of a serial killer. In doing so, Larson is able to explore the details of the fair in-depth, while keeping the interest of the reader. By using this organizational structure, Larson is also able to tell the gruesome tale of a serial killer without scaring away his audience. Overall, the pairing of these two stories helps to balance out the novel.

During the early 1700s, a traveler met a man in the Massachusetts forest. However, this was no mortal human, but the devil. “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Devil and Tom Walker,” two short stories, both start out this way. Washington Irving wrote the latter in 1824, which tells how Tom Walker profited by working for the devil. In 1835, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote “Young Goodman Brown,” which describes Goodman Brown’s encounter with the devil. Despite minor deviations between their themes, the two stories share ideas regarding the devil, specifically his appearance and connection with man’s depravity. overpowering minor deviations between their themes. [MAYBE DELETE THE LAST HALF OF THE THESIS, AND ADD SPECIFICITY TO THE FIRST HALF (WHICH IDEAS OF THE DEVIL ARE SIMILAR?)]]

The Bible is another book that allusions are commonly made to. Foster illuminates the fact that, “The devil, as the old

It all comes back to two young kids they were acting strange they were not them self people believed that they were possessed by the devil they were thought to be witches. how did the devil become associated with witches and witchcraft?

Both authors describe the devil similarly. When first encountered, they portray him described as a mostly normal person, with only a subtle clue to his

Throughout the book I felt connected to one character, that character was George. George and I share similar qualities and our lifestyles can relate. One major characteristic I found in George is his ability

All these characters had different personalities and each character was lovable in their own way.

dilemma of killing her mother. Something that makes me relate with her is that she is

Wars have been fought for many different reasons through the years, and that holds true for the American Civil War (1861-1865). In Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Killer Angels, the reasons for fighting the war are brought about through the officers and soldiers at a famous battle site of the Civil War, Gettysburg. Gettysburg was one of the most documented battles of the whole war. It took place over a span of three days and can be viewed as a turning point from Confederate prominence to Confederate demise. As in any conflict, there are two sides to the story. The Union and the Confederacy each had their own views as to why they were fighting the war. Victors write the history so too often only the Union side is

In The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara fictionally illustrates the historical facts of the battle at Gettysburg. Shaara gives action and words to characters of another time, and then places these players on the stage of this great battle. Through the use of powerful biblical and non-biblical imagery and themes the epic nature of the battle at Gettysburg and its characters are enhanced. Such imagery and themes, combined with Shaara's fictionalization, help to contribute to why this single battle holds such monumental significance and influence upon the lives of Americans over a century removed from its occurrence.

Arnold Friend, a main character founded in the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, is often a debated by many readers to be a demon, a crazed stalker and maniac, or in fact Lucifer himself. After reading the short story and analyzing the details of the characters, Arnold Friend really stands out and leaves many unanswered questions on what the author was intending to do with this particular character in identifying who he really is. After thoroughly analyzing the character, Arnold Friend, throughout the story, it is unclear to say that he is a human, yet it is much clearer to indicate that he is a demon, the Devil, or a figment of Connie’s imagination as her deepest desires coming to life.

A Faustian legend is a story in which a character trades something of great personal value to the devil in order to receive personal gain. Since this type of literature originated in the Fourth Century it has spread throughout the world. Two relatively recent versions of this legend are “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Vincent Benét. These stories show many similarities as well as a few differences. While both Benét and Irving present similar themes in setting of the tales and motivation in the Faustian character, they do differ in the nature of that character and their visual presentation of the Devil.

The book contains a captivating use of symbolism making the story more interesting and understandable. This magnetizes the reader into the book. "At the first show of dawn, great Alcinous left his couch, as did that ravager of cities,

The initial connotation of the word daemon brings about thoughts of demons, making mirrored parallels between the characters of Satan in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and the daemon in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein legitimate; however, further analysis of the word daemon links itself to Ancient Greeks. They believed a daemon was a being trapped somewhere between being considered a god and a human, or as a fallen hero. Although Milton’s novel sympathizes with Satan as a character, it still acknowledges the fall of Satan for disobeying God and attempting to overthrow him. The characters of the daemon and Satan are characterized as being sympathetic and complex beings, still capable of partaking in evil actions.

Mormons use the name Elohim to refer to God. According to Terryl L. Givens in his book Wrestling the Angels, “The first verse of the Bible, however, employs a different name for the divine being-Elohim. The fact that Elohim appears as the divine name in the oldest portions of the Bible suggests its origin…” (117). The first verse of the bible says, “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (NIV). Givens goes on to say, “…(and that of its root, El) in pre-Israelite traditions, and Canaanite religion…Elohim, with its plural-im ending, may have been employed to emphasize his status as ‘God of gods,’ or ‘the highest God” (117).