When Hope is Gone // Braylan Stringfellow

    Never, I repeat, never would I have thought of Satan being a relatable character. I mean when I think of Satan I think of a being that is pure evil, someone who is the complete opposite of good. I am of course referring to Satan found in Paradise Lost and not the Bible but still, Satan being relatable?!?

    In book IV around line 79, Satan began thinking about the idea of repentance. He is wonder to himself it is too late for him to repent and get right with God. To get to the bottom of it, Satan wonders if there is any hope for him. He wonders if he is permanently doomed to misery in hell or if there is small chance that God would take him back and restore him. Satan sees the situation he has put himself in. He looks at the bright side of things like how he is in charge, but he knows it nothing like how it used to be before the hate he has cut so deep in him. By the time he gets to the garden, he sees mankind and what little hope he had instantly left him as he sees he has been replaced by God. Satan said, “his new delight, / Mankind created, and for him this world. / So farewell hope” (Milton 106-108). After that Satan was filled with rage towards mankind. While reading this, I could not help but think of Lotso from Toy Story 3. If I remember correctly, Lotso was accidentally left behind by his kid so he decided that he was going to make his way back to his kid. He struggled many days before he finally made it back only to find that he was replaced. Instantly what little hope he had was crushed and from then on he hated any toy that had a kid to call their own.

    Satan and Lotso both have something in common here in that when they felt like they were wronged, they hated something that had nothing to do with the issue. I think this happens a lot to us in that our anger is misguided to wrong thing. I know that this has happened to me in that I’ll be looking forward to doing something only for it to fall through because someone had something come up. In my frustration I used to get mad at my friend who had no control over what happened. In these situations I’ve learned to just take a step back and instead of getting mad to just realize that things happen and too just move on with my life. When its my fault things are the way they are like it was for Satan, I just have to ask for forgiveness and move on. If its how it was for Lotso and it was no one’s fault, I just have to realize that there is nothing that could have been done and to just move on from it.


I commented on Raygan’s and Emily’s post

Comments

  1. Emily ThullesenSeptember 13, 2021 at 8:36 PM

    This was a very interesting concept! I can definitely agree that it is relatable. I liked the analogy with Lotzo, too. Sometimes when we get into these tough situations, we feel as if there is no way out, especially if it was not our fault. I agree that it is better to take a step back and ask for forgiveness. We are sinful people, after all, but we have the grace of God.

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  2. Breanna PooleSeptember 14, 2021 at 8:14 AM

    I never looked at the Lotso story in the Toy Story films as being akin to Satan from Paradise Lost, and now I cannot unsee it. I loved your post, as Satan's reaction to Adam and Eve is one of the more interesting parts of the story, as we all have felt replaced and forgotten before. For Satan, this was because of his own doing, but and as a result he feels grief, jealousy, and even rage.

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