Satans Humanity and the Great Storytelling Sin // Andrew Henley

     For any person who sits down to write a story at any point in their life there are generally a few rules most authors abide by for their own sakes when writing. Paradise lost does not listen to the most important rule when writing a character: Don't make them too powerful. I am of course speaking of God in Paradise Lost. Milton put himself in a nearly impossible place to get out of as a writer by having an all knowing all powerful God in his story. Granted, Milton didn't have much of a choice when he chose to write a poem based of off his own religious doctrines and beliefs. It is so interesting to me how Milton turned what would be a storytelling nightmare into something brilliant. By highlighting Gods Omnipotence, Milton simultaneously highlights the futility and humanity of Satan.

In Book 4 of paradise lost Satan is doubting himself. A strange emotion for someone whose pride made them think they could conquer God. It's part of what makes Satan so interesting as a character in Miltons version, he reminds us of us. God is intentionally a character we can't relate to, but we can empathise quickly with Satans humanity despite him being completely awful. Satan goes from in the first book being shown as this grand character until we get to the books where we're introduced to God where from there on Satan seems far less grand and much closer to what we as humans cant relate to. 

Commented on Isabelle Ferguson and Justin Johnsons posts

Comments

  1. Brooke BradleySeptember 14, 2021 at 9:09 AM

    Andrew, this is an interesting point to highlight. I agree that God is unreliable as a character, and that we tend to relate more to Satan. I am not sure that it is a good thing that Milton writes Satan in this way. It makes me a little uncomfortable.

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  2. Ashlyn ScismSeptember 14, 2021 at 10:05 AM

    It is incredible that we can relate to Satan as a character. I think it all points back to the fact that mankind has fallen from perfection just as Satan has fallen from Heaven. Humans yearn to find broken characters we can relate to and empathize with. Since God has never fallen we have a hard time relating to him and that is part of why Christ was sent down to us. Jesus became a man and lived in the broken world. He suffered and mourned. He lived and died. Christ is the one who connects humans to God. He experienced brokenness to relate to us so that we may be able to experience perfection once more.

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