I'm Mr. Lonely /// Bug Olsen

 

          When looking at the differences between the Biblical creation story and the story Milton depicts in books seven and eight, the concept that stood out to me the most was the fact that Adam asked God for a companion. According to Genesis 2, God is the one who decides man should not be alone and forms Eve without any discussion with Adam, whereas in Book Eight Adam whines and complains until God agrees to give him an equal mate. This doesn’t mean that this was part of God’s original plan, but it does present another interesting view on whether it was Adam or Eve’s fault that the fruit was eaten. If Adam asked God to create Eve, and Eve in turn ate the fruit, would not the blame ultimately fall back on Adam? Obviously the Bible shows that both are at fault, since Adam was with Eve and also ate the fruit, but in Milton’s creation story I believe this solidifies Adam being the one to blame for the fall.

            Adam’s discussion with God on lines 364-451 about his need for a companion was extremely comical as well as enlightening to me, since we see God seems to find more value in solace than with company from the sheer fact that there is no equal to him. Adam’s main argument is that he must have someone on his level to live with, since everything else that has been created has a partner of the same species but him. God clearly is enjoying this conversation and does not fault Adam for this, as it says he smiles and was “not displeased” (line 397), and I was reminded of Abraham and Job, both of which were extremely important Old Testament characters who continually had back-and-forth discussions with God about what was right or wrong (Abraham trying to save his nephew Lot, Job asking why he was being punished, etc.).

Interestingly, God claims that there is no one equal to him and therefore companionship is overrated, but since Adam is not like God then it would be good for him to have a mate. However, I think this concept presents more information on the relationship presented in Milton’s world between Jesus and God. From a biblical standpoint, we understand that they one and separate at the same time. But in Paradise Lost, we see that God created Jesus and therefore are purely separate individuals, and that Jesus is placed at almost the same level as God. I think that this discussion between Adam and God once again proves the individuality of Jesus and the fact that he is not God in this story. If he were God, I believe that God would have mentioned how he does in fact have an equal and enjoys the concept of company. I personally do not think this would be an interesting concept if it were not for the fact that the relationship between God and Jesus is very different in Paradise Lost, and I found interesting comparisons in this between what Milton portrays and what Genesis 2 tells us.

I commented on Abigale Bells's and Emily Thullesen's posts.

Comments

  1. Emma Kate PattersonSeptember 21, 2021 at 3:47 AM

    I like that you pointed out the question of if the blame would ultimately fall back on Adam. This is an interesting concept to explore. As humans we all long for companionship and I think it is important that even from the beginning of time starting with Adam humans have longed for companionship.

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  2. Justin JSeptember 21, 2021 at 9:15 AM

    I think it's an interesting point that Milton made this change, especially since in the Biblical narrative Adam blames God for Eve after blame starts going around. However, I'm not sure Milton did this intentionally to shift blame onto Adam as later in the story he makes changes to the tale that (at least as I saw when I read it in High School) actively try to take some blame AWAY from Adam and puts more weight onto Eve's choices. We'll see once we actually get into the rest of the story, now I'm genuinely curious what I and others will think of "the blame game" once we see the tale go down as Milton tells it

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