Tool Of The Devil: Comparing Satan in Paradise Lost and The Golden Compass

The devil works in many ways, he tries to mess with our heads, put fear within ourselves, make us feel hatred towards others, and to make us believe human nature is only evil. In two short stories the devil tries make two protagonist see only evil. Stephen King’s short story “The Man in the Black Suit,” and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN,” show the devil at his best trying to get the protagonist to see evil. The devil uses his language, and his appearance to meet his motives. He is successful with some of his tactics, but not with all of them.

Satan’s character embodies the idea of a heroic figure because he questions what he feels to be true, even though his tragic fall is that he becomes easily misguided.

In addition, here, as throughout much the poem, Satan continues to hedge the other side of the argument, insisting that he isn't forced to do evil by opposing God, but that "to do ill our sole delight" (160). This belief that he has a choice in the matter is tied up in the misconception that he was, and continues to be, equal to God, as "reason hath equall'd" (248) them.  Quite to the contrary, Milton makes it clear that "the will And high permission of all-ruling Heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs" (211-3).  And it is only Satan's perverted sense of reason that convinces him that "The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n" (254-5).  He believes that his reason and contemplation will help him discover "How overcome this dire Calamity" (189), or failing that, change his will such that it fits his current circumstance.  This is the classic method of the delusional and disenfranchised, holding out hope for change, but at the same time putting forth the belief that the current situation can actually be beneficial.  The sophistry has shown through Satan's speech, as he declares that there is no way for God to beat him, in his mind, when we know he is already defeated.

However, craving independence from God ferociously backfires on Satan when he finds out that even after leaving hell, he cannot escape it, “which way [he] [flies] is Hell, [he] [himself] is Hell,” (IV, 75). Satan finds his way to revolt against and separate from God to overrule Heaven and become king, instead however, he takes on the role of the representation of all evil which is evidently seen in his interactions with Eve.

The devil at the dawn of Christianity bore little resemblance to the ruler of hell, the antichrist and agent of evil that he is known as in present day. Satan makes few overt or implied appearances in the Old Testament. For the important role of God’s greatest adversary, early Christians had to flesh out great parts of Satan’s story in order to develop him into his present, fearsome persona. The Christian story of the Devil is heavily influenced by earlier Greek mythology, and early Christian writings about the Devil co-opted local mythology in order to gain new converts and discredit popular pagan beliefs.

In book I of “Paradise Lost” the speaker characterized Satan as a leader based on his ability to lead the falling angels. By “Paradise Lost” being a Christian poem some may wonder why Satan is considered a powerful leader. I believe Milton portrays Satan as a heroic figure in order to show God’s ultimate power.

   Satan's primary operational problem in Paradise Lost is his lack of obedience. The fundamental misunderstanding which leads to Satan's disobedience is his separation of free will from God's hierarchical power. In the angel Raphael's account, Satan tells his dominions, "Orders and Degrees/Jarr not with liberty" (5.792-93). Tempting as this differentiation seems, Satan is mistaken. Free will and hierarchical power are not mutually exclusive, as Satan suggests, but overlapping concepts. Even though Satan has been created with sufficient freedom to choose to disobey, he tacitly acknowledges God's sovereignty when he exercises his choice. Satan is constrained existentially, from the outset, by

In “Paradise Lost” I think that Milton’s character Satan may be considered one of the most complex characters and is always changing. Of course at first he comes off as a very evil guy, who had a strong thirst for vengeance and liked to wreak havoc. Even though

In the first book of Paradise Lost, created by Milton, it can most accurately be perceived as Milton attempting to give the reader a different perspective on Satan, the greatest lost angel. In the first book of Paradise Lost, Milton writes about how Satan was the closest angel to God. Milton’s attempt at making Satan a sympathetic character evolved after his original audience had seen it, because in modern times it is much easier to sympathize with Satan than it was many years ago. The perspective of Satan has changed a lot. In modern times, we view Milton’s retelling of Satan’s story as a story of struggling against great odds, Satan’s being spoon fed powers, and Satan and the Fallen Angels optimism for Hell.

Lord Asriel, while not technically "the Devil" by any means, becomes a more chilling character, as his passion is unwavering and he holds his views with the utmost importance.

In Milton’s Paradise Lost, surely we have come to ponder upon the makeup of Satan’s attractable character—his rebellious, seductive, almost “bad-ass” attitude—a case of admirable evil. But let us not forget his ambition, his strive to weld the image of God. We have seen many moments throughout where we get Satan’s ground for imitating the image of God: “…In imitation of that Mount whereon / Messiah was declar’d…” (V 764-65). But why does Satan do this? What is it in Satan that causes him to “look up” to God? Is God a tyrant yet a role model to Satan? I propose that Satan’s drive is something more than just an act of pretending; maybe, it is rather a means of trying to grasp what he has been taken away from him. Or, we can say that Satan was more. Perhaps he came to existence not in the mold of angel, but as a divine tool. There must be a reason as to: why Satan was considered God’s “first and favorite angel”? This seems to suggest that Satan is, originally, at some level of divinity; an experiment of God’s that was put to the test (or is a test)—a divine prototype.

“Satan is a portrait of rebellion gone wrong, but not of the wrongs of rebellion” (Bryson). Cromwell later diminished, and Charles II was bestowed to King of England, while Satan is still trying to destroy all of God’s creations, and diminish their good moral, and qualities.

He makes up for that by continuing to fool himself by his new life. “The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n / What matter where, if I be still the same / And what I should be, all but less than he / Whom thunder hath made greater” (Milton 9)? Satan wants to make Hell even better than Heaven. It is his new home now, and he’s trying to make the best of a bad situation. “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n” (Milton 9). He can’t be saved like humans. “The first sort by their own suggestion fell, / Self-tempted, self-depraved: Man falls deceived / By the other first: Man therefore shall fall grace, / The other none” (Milton, III, 129-132). The reason why Satan is so intent on deluding himself is because he knows there is no hope of going back to his old

Satan goes from the most beautiful to the ugliest because of his defiance. John Carrey speaks of Milton’s Satan saying “Satan as archangel, before his fall, is never shown by Milton, but this stage of his existence is often alluded to, as is the fact that some of his archangelic power powers remain, though we cannot be quite sure which. Hence Satan, as a fictional character, gains a hidden dimension and a ‘past’” (133). We know Satan has a past, it is just not presented by Milton. Satan once lived in a universe full of happiness, joy, and eternal glorification and was known in

Satan is so high in his own esteem; he cannot bear to be a servant and must be a leader, as he says in Book I, “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n” (line 263).