Discuss the conflict between good and evil in Paradise Lost, Book 1..?

Or,

Discuss the conflict between God vs. Satan in Paradise Lost book 1...?

Answer: In the poem, Paradise Lost Satan was thrown out of heaven for rebelling against God and all
that is good. He was the archangel and is the most beautiful and perfect angel, but he was not so
perfect because he had flaws. Some of the flaws he had were pride that led to ambition and jealousy
that led deception. The flaw that led him to destruction was pride, because since he was the most
beautiful angel, he believed he was the greatest in heaven. He questioned why should he serve God,
and evidently led a rebellion against God in a chance to overthrow Him.

John Milton divided the characters in his epic poem Paradise Lost into two sides, one side under God
representing good, and the other side under Satan representing evil and sin. Milton first introduced
the reader to the character Satan, the representative of all evil, and his allegiance of fallen angels
that aided in his revolt against God. Only later did Milton introduce the reader to all powerful God,
leader and creator of all mankind (John). This introduction of Satan first led the reader to believe
acts of sin were good, just like Eve felt in the Garden of Eden when she was enticed by Satan to eat
the fruit off of the Tree of Knowledge. The later introduction of The Almighty had the reader’s
change their feelings towards sin, as the ways of God were introduced to them and these ways were
shown to be the way to feel and believe. This levy of good vs. evil carried on throughout the poem
with the interaction of Satan and his fallen angels with God and his son in Heaven.

The common representation of sin and evil came from the lead character in the battle against God,
Satan. His name means "enemy of God." He was a former high angel from Heaven named Lucifer,
meaning, "light bearer" (John). Satan became jealous in Heaven of God's son and formed an
allegiance of angels to battle against God, only for God to cast them out of Heaven into Hell. This did
not bother Satan at first since he became the leader in Hell rather than a servant in Heaven. Satan
believed that it was, "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven". Much of Satan's reliance on
getting things accomplished came from his ability to lie and deceive. He lied to the fallen angels
about the Son and his "vice-regency" in Heaven in order for them to follow him instead of The Son.
He also concealed his true self by hiding in the body of a serpent when presenting himself to Eve in
the Garden of Eden. She would not have been as easily tempted into sin had he not concealed his
true form. In addition, Satan showed the reader a large amount of anger and destructiveness when
he planned his revenge on God (Milton 62). Satan even found pleasure in the pain and destruction of
other people and things, "To do aught good never will be our task, / But ever to do ill our soul
delight". It is clear the feelings and views of Satan represented evil.

With Satan and his battle against God, he formed an allegiance of fallen angels to help him carry out
his evil goals. Satan placed his chief supporter named Beelzebub in charge of the fallen angels, and
getting them together to form the Demonic Council to serve as an administration for Hell (John).
Milton described Beelzebub as being a " Majestic, wise statesman" in his leadership abilities of this
council. Although Satan put Beelzebub in charge, it was not because of Beelzebub's abilities, but due
to the fact Satan was able to trick his chief supporter easily into expressing his beliefs instead of
Beelzebub's own. With Satan's ability to deceive Beelzebub easily, he will easily mislead the Demonic
Council into carrying out his evil ideas against God in Heaven.

The council held a meeting in the capital of Hell called Pandemonium, where the reader is
introduced to all of the fallen angels, and learned their evil ideas of revenge against God and
Heaven. The first fallen angel that spoke at the meeting was Moloch, who was the "strongest and
fiercest spirit that fought in Heaven, now fiercer by despair". He came forth with a "suicidal battle
philosophy", promoting open war in Heaven. He was very aggressive in nature, and did not care if
God destroyed the fallen angels in the battle, as long as they fought in revenge. The second fallen
angel that spoke at the meeting was the false and hollow angel named Belial. He represented true
passivity towards fighting. He conceded to God's power, realizing they would easily be defeated
(John). Up next came the "least erected spirit that fell from Heaven” named Mammon, who was
characterized by greed and tangible wealth. When Mammon was in Heaven, he desired the golden
floors he walked on better than desiring the wealth and virtue available from God who ruled over
them (John). The reader saw this same desire in his philosophy of what the angels should do in Hell,
which was to stay there and exploit its wealth rather than war in Heaven against God. The final
speaker at the meeting was Beelzebub, who relayed the earlier thoughts of Satan, which were to go
after the new creation of God, man, rather than take the chance of fighting in Heaven.. Since these
ideas were those of Satan, he quickly adjourned the meeting, and the plans to accomplish his idea
were begun.

The final two essential characters that interacted with Satan representing sin were his daughter Sin
and incestuous son Death, showing the reader the perversity in evil. Sin was Satan's daughter, born
from his head in Heaven, only to fall with him into Hell. The poem described her as a woman,
beautiful above the waist but an evil serpent below, with Satan's Hellhounds crawling out of her
stomach. These hellhounds aided Sin in her main duty, which was to guard the gates of Hell (John).
Sin carried on an incestuous relationship with her father, which brought forth a son named Death.
Death, described by the poem as a threatening, shadowy figure, carried a dart as a weapon and even
threatened his father with it. Death had two specific tasks, first to serve as Satan's jailer, then as his
road builder from Heaven to Paradise (John). With the relationship between these three characters,
Milton showed the sick perversity of evil to the reader.

Milton used two main characters to display good and virtue to the reader; the first one is God
himself. God was the true symbol of all that is good in the world. God was the creator of man and
kept this in control with three mighty powers. The first power was omnipotence, which is being all-
powerful. God's second power was that of omnipresent, which is the ability to be present
everywhere at the same time. The third mighty power of God was being omniscient, which is the
ability to know all things (John). God himself was surrounded by a holy light that is so utterly
powerful that he cannot be approached. God displayed the power of omnipotence in full when he
was able to cast Satan's legion of angels out of Heaven into Hell. The angels fled over the edge of
Heaven rather than face the wrath of God (170). God was also able to dispel all evil from Adam and
Eve's way in paradise through simple prayer (148). This mighty power of God showed his true ability
as a ruler that fights only for the well being of good and virtue in Heaven and Paradise. God used his
omniscient power to play an essential role in the poem, foresee the downfall of man, and give man
free will. This free will of man is what gave man freedom from God. God still had control of man, but
man was able to do as he chose, whether it was good or sinful. God vows, "I form'd them free, and
free they must remain, / Till they enthrall themselves". God also used this freedom of choice as a
test for man, just like the angels were tested before their downfall to Hell, even though he knew the
outcome would be sin. With these great powers, and God's holiness, he is the true representation of
all that is good. The mighty powers of God laid out the entire outcome of the poem to the reader,
showing grace and virtue overcoming all evil.

The second key character introduced by Milton is The Son, whose powers and abilities are used to
contradict the sin and evil throughout the poem. By his powers, God declared his son to be the king
of the angels in Heaven (John). He was mighty in battle as he led the fight against the legion of
Lucifer's angels in Heaven, pursuing them in his thundering chariot towards the wall of Heaven till
they leapt over the edge into Hell (Milton 170). The Son also had the power of free will but only used
it as the savior of man and toward the purpose of good. The reader saw the abilities of The Son
evoked good and love for man through the poem. In the third book of the poem, God gave his son
the power to judge man's sins. The Son, showing his true love, charity and grace to God, offered
himself as a sacrifice for man's sins. Milton believed this was true grace, not deserved by man, but
God offered it to man in order to save his existence. The death and resurrection of The Son will
redeem man for his sins. This is also showed the reader divine love to his father and leadership of
angels, since he was the only one to offer himself when asked by God who will. The true love and
mercy expressed by The Son throughout the poem brought grace and pity to all created.

The Son brought forth his commitment to his Father, judgment of man, to the reader in book ten of
the poem. The Son judged Adam and Eve for breaking the commandment of God to not eat the fruit
from the Tree of Knowledge. Adam resigned his manhood, and makes Eve a god to him. This act of
making someone else a god, instead of the true God, is a major sin in the eyes of God. The first curse
The Son handed down upon man was the pain of childbirth. Next, he declared the ground man walks
on would grow thorns and thistles. Finally, The Son announced death to man, bringing about feelings
of guilt and shame. With this announcement, the gates opened to allow the characters Sin and
Death into Earth, never to leave, only to prey on man. The judgment of The Son gave the reader the
definition of man today, able to choose sin with a path of redemption by Jesus, or take the easy road
to Hell.

Throughout John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost, the reader was able to see a contrast between
what is evil and what is good. Milton first introduced the reader to sin and evil in the lead character
Satan. Milton showed the reader Satan's ways of deceit, jealousy, and destruction through various
dreadful acts. With Satan's incestuous relationship he carried on with his daughter to create the
character Death, Milton exposed the reader to the true perversity brought on by sin. Next, Milton
introduced the reader to the fallen angels and their evil ideas during their meeting in the capitol of
Hell, Pandemonium. Such characters as Mammon with his materialistic greed, Belial with his false
and hollow views, the all aggressive Moloch and his suicidal battle philosophies, and finally
Beelzebub passing on the views of Satan. The contrast to these characters came from God and The
Son. God, with his powers of creation, omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, was able to
look over his creations with subtle control and try to guide them toward good decisions. In addition
to God, the reader looked upon The Son as a symbol of divine love of God and his creations and his
showing of true grace toward man. With the powerful character representation by Milton, the
reader is able to see the bad in evil and sin, and the good and justification in the judgments of God
and The Son.