Examples Of Good And Evil In Paradise Lost

The idealistic goal of humans is to achieve goodness. However, many become lost on the path to reach this goal as they are ignorant of how to find it. Goodness is procured through basing personal choices on love and loyalty, no matter the circumstance, while evil is made through selfishness, power pursuits, and the causing of pain. In “The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini, the author paints a picture of moralistic conflict throughout the story to shed light on the main point of human character: goodness and evil are made by the choices an individual makes and partially shaped by their circumstance that develops the character they become.

If god was all good, all powerful and all knowing, he would not allow the existence of evil.

His argument is basically this: if God is omnibenelovent, omniscient and omnipotent then either evil does not exist, or, if it does, it is not really evil.  Milton lays the groundwork definitions, aligning the parties in his illustrative argument early.  "If then his providence / Out of our evil to bring forth good, Our labor must be to pervert that end, / and out of good still to find means of evil" (Milton I: 162-165).  The word 'his' refers to God and relates the word 'good' with him, and relates Satan to the word 'evil'.  The justifications for these labels are more implied than anything else, based in the relationship of the Christian God, and thus the Bible and the actions and motivations displayed by Satan.  He becomes tied to " ... deep malice to conceal, couched with revenge" (Milton IV: 123) and "... ire envy and despair" (Milton IV: 115).  Thus, good is implicitly the opposite of that: kindness with forgiveness, pleasure and joy.  Milton's argument follows a path of self-discovery, illustrates a sympathetic character and describes his internal conflict and resulting horror of his situation.  Mainly that he cannot ask for forgiveness and is thus locked into downward spiral between the reality of the situation, the expectations of his cohorts, and his own personal motivations.  In the end, his actions

Epic tradition has existed long throughout the history of literature, built around the concept of the hero—the protagonist whose talents and admirable characteristics propel them to conquer an impossible task. In the case of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan exists as the protagonists of Milton’s epic, seeking revenge on God for punishing him to the depths of hell for leading a revolt against heaven. However, although Satan’s actions are villainous and sinful, his tale follows that of the traditional epic hero. Satan fits the characteristics of the epic hero through his illustrious status among his fallen angels and his immense hubris, leading to a plot to corrupt mankind and seek revenge against God.

The existence of famine, war, disease, and other distasteful aspects of humanity pose a tough, insistent question as to why God chose to create evil. As an infinitely powerful creator, surely a morally perfect God can and should create a world where evil does not exist in the first place. To propose otherwise seems to paint God as a malevolent being who apparently takes joy in watching the chaos. Bernard Leikind (2010) is a physicist who published an article that paints a representation of the mystery of evil as seen by most non-believers. In his article, Leikind uses the Old Testament biblical figure Job to support a malevolent God who just as easily gives as he takes away. He references Job 38:1-4 (NIV):

Satan is indeed “Hurled headlong flaming from th’ethereal sky” (Book I, line 45) and into Hell where he will live in fire. But as a leader, and a true protagonist, Satan chooses to accept his situation and rise as a hero for the pack of fallen angels he has led from Heaven. Even if God is his enemy, at least he is not serving anyone. He possesses his own heaven now, though not joyful and happy as the heaven he was just expelled from, “Farewell happy fields/Where joy for ever dwells: hail horrors, hail/Infernal world, …/ Receive thy new possessor” (Book I, lines 249-253). Satan makes Hell his Heaven with his mind, as he says, “The mind is its own place, and in itself/Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n” (Book I, lines 254-255). Satan acknowledges that he has made a Hell of his previous Heaven, but he also uses that reasoning to make Hell into his own Heaven. His anti-heroic qualities are apparent, though, when he tells his followers in Book I, “To do aught good never will be our task/ But ever to do ill our soul delight” (lines 159-160). It cannot be forgotten that Satan is evil by his creation and through his free will. God created Satan with all of his imperfections but makes it clear that he had a choice by

In Paradise Lost book 2 people see the Satan saying how much God hates him. But in book 3 God talks about how he will always keep the door open for the Satan. To me I see that devil doubting God before listening to him. Satan says, “But what owe I to his commands above Who hates me, and hath hither thrust me down.” (lines 856-57 pg. 1982). These lines show when something bad happens or does not go your way you turn and question God and assume that he hates you. You forget that God knows everything and has a plan. But what sometimes people do not realize is that the gate is always open (God will always be there). We are trapping ourselves in our own hell. That is exactly what Satan is doing. Satan is making Hell worse for himself (yes, hell

Satan implies that he being as great as God in every way except for his power; the freedom of Hell; and that he rules his new kingdom of Hell is significantly more important than the reality that he has been banished from heaven. This information shows us that Satan is very stubborn, yet he is optimistic.

Satan encourages his followers and reminds them of their original cause. He shows great leadership skills by re-emphasizing their ideas that at least when they are reigning in Hell, G-d doesn't interfere, and although it is Hell it is still worth ruling rather than serving in Heaven. Satan is dwelling on his power which could be seen as his tragic flaw. He is allowing his pride and ego to surface by glorifying Hell (calling it "profoundest") and declaring himself in possession of Hell. He starts to think of the idea of Heaven and Hell as a mindset. He starts to believe that the mind is what creates a place as Heaven and a place as Hell. Satan feels as though Heaven is Hell because he must serve G-d there, but in Hell, he has a true Heaven because he is served and worshipped. This could be determined as his tragic flaw.

Satan was in a well-respected position while in Heaven, and therefore it is hard for him to acknowledge his current state publicly. His fear of how others perceive him interferes with him expressing his true feelings. Satan is still logical and he “does not degenerate: he is degraded.”(Waldock 417). In other words, Satan’s mentality after the fall is the same as it was before, yet his drop in status causes him to try to impress others and act unreasonably at times in order to protect his reputation and the legitimacy of his rebellion.

Satan’s sense of justice makes him continuously farther away from his home. This is because Satan's sense of justice is about corrupting what is good and right in God’s eyes. An example of Satan’s sense of justice corrupting what is good and right in God’s eyes is when Satan deceives Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. Here Satan believes that he is doing right by trying to get God’s greatest creation, mankind to rebel against him. Satan’s sense of justice will never let him return home because his sense of justice is not aligned with God’s. If anything, Satan’s sense of justice is about causing other beings of creation to lose their homes. For example, because Adam and Eve choose to eat the forbidden fruit knowing the consequences it will have doing so, Adam and Eve lost their home as well. If Satan’s sense of justice had been aligned with God’s sense of justice, Satan would never have lost his home in the first place. This is all because God and his sense of justice is greater than Satan and his sense of justice. Satan’s perception of justice blinds him by the fact that he thinks he is on equal measure with God when in reality, he’s not even close. Satan lost his home forever because his sense of justice contradicts God’s and God is greater than he

Throughout Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan is shown in a different perspective. Satan is in hell, reminiscing of the days in heaven. He is formulating a new way to redeem himself, but also is accepting his fate. He accepts that he has done wrong by God, but he also accepts that he has wronged himself. Satan’s revolution caused him to lose the luxury of heaven. Milton seems to pity Satan in Paradise Lost, saying such quotes as, “1:254-255 The mind is its own place, and in itself // Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n.” (Milton, 1. 254-5) Satan seems to accept the consequences for his actions, but knows that the damnation he faces will never compare to what was heaven; heaven is where he experienced true happiness. This is also evident when he first appears in Eden; Satan is jealous of Adam and Eve and envies their lives for living in such a place. Eden reminded Satan of Heaven.

John Milton's epic “Paradise Lost” is one that has brought about much debate since its writing. This epic tells the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, although from a different perspective than what most people usually see. Milton tells the story more through the eyes of Satan, whom most people usually consider the ultimate villain. The way in which Satan is portrayed in this story has caused speculation as to whether Satan is actually a hero in this situation. He certainly has heroic qualities throughout the story, yet still is ultimately responsible for Adam and Eve's sin. Satan can easily be classified as a hero in this story, as well as the main antagonist, depending on the viewpoint of the

God gave him a very important and powerful role in this world until he already wants to be like God. He wants to have all the power which allows evil to conquer him. He was thrown out from heaven and became the ruler of hell and true definition of evil. God did not perished Satan because he knows the fact that when all the people lose their faith in God they will be delivered to hell where all the sufferings and pains lingers. Satan’s actions are the highest form of evil, his actions consists those which is against God and love. God did not perish satan’s actions because it is a way for us to recognize the good works of God. Satan’s works in our world are tests for how are we going to handle evil without breaking our faith and by being strong in every pain. God will never allow evil to take over his creations, He only allowed them for us to be

Bring in representation of Satan in John Milton’s Paradise Lost and introduce Mephostophilis; bring out parallelity between the two.