In Paradise Lost, Milton plays with his readers' preconceived notions by presenting perspectives perhaps never before imagined. God is not strictly the protagonist and Satan is not strictly the antagonist, instead Satan is presented in a triumphant and glorious manner even though he has ironically just fallen from heaven and been condemned to hell. In Satan's eyes, God is oppressing him, and he is doing no more than Milton himself is doing in a literary context. Milton is a revolutionary and writes what is not commonly accepted. He has radical ideas about how society should and could be better run. Similar parallels can be drawn with Satan, as he too is trying to create his own “heaven out of hell” and literally rise up against the oppressive force in his life. Theologically, Satan's thought process about being evil is highly irrational, and thus he is cast out of God's good graces. What is inherent in this discourse, however, is that true evil is only knowingly done when one knowingly turns away the Well. It is clear from the distinctions between Satan's use of the first and second person that he has knowledge of what is good, and yet at the end of the discourse he still expels all goodness from his evil being. This is irrational, and it is this irrationality that causes both theological and psychological pain. It is as if the light of God and the beauty of Heaven cause physical pain to Satan. He suffers both in hell and now here, and it is as if Satan is literally bringing hell with him wherever he goes. It is through Milton's brilliant depiction of Satan's continued state of tension and dismay as a subjective soul that the reader finds sympathy for him, for Satan is no longer strictly evil, as is clear from his speech on Niphates, Satan is simply a confused being . which represents the lesser evil from a psychological and theological point of view. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayWhen Satan first sees Heaven, he immediately switches to second person. He is overwhelmed by her beauty and, unable to fully grasp her purity and innocence, is forced to transition, literally, to another state of being. His speech begins with an appeal to the "you", where it is initially unclear whether the "you" is God or actually himself. He continues to say "O thou... Look from thy sole dominion as the god / Of this new world..." (lines 32-33), which makes it clear that he is looking at heaven as if it were God, but it is not God. Now it is clear that the "you" is him, which makes the reader even more confused, as this is the first scene where Satan's internal struggles have been put on display, literally before the eyes of the entire "new " world. He calls upon his other self, “thee,” but “without a friendly voice,” because the sun reminded him of the good he had previously shown, his former self who originally presided in heaven. He cannot identify with this other aspect of goodness in his character, and so, while he unconsciously realizes that he is the same and has the same qualities as before, his conscious mind refuses to accept this simple fact. Satan must branch into two distinct sides of his being, the separate, formerly good self, and his modern, evil self. “O sun, to tell you how much I hate your rays,” says Satan, because he is literally telling his former self how much his present self hates to be reminded that once he was different, once he was good and not proud, but in The service of God. Satan is forced to switch to the first person when he says that he hates the sun's rays because his former selfgood is too pure to express any kind of hate. Satan in his fallen state is capable of hate, because he is resentful and now deceitful, but through Satan's internal separation we can now see that Satan is only corrupt in his current state. As Satan continues his speech, he notes that God created him (first person), implying that God created Satan with the evil he now displays. God also has choices, like Satan, Adam, and Eve. What makes someone evil is the active decision to turn away from good and take the darkest path of known evil. But in these lines, Satan brings to our attention the fact that God knew what he was doing when he created evil. If God created everything and knows everything that will happen, why is Satan condemned to hell? What God says to his "only begotten son" (Book III line 80) is that he created man "just and upright, sufficient to stand, though free to fall." (Book III lines. 97-98). God is the one who introduces sin, creating by himself the possibility that evil exists, yet God justifies his actions by saying that without choices man would not have been created free, and "he must remain free". In this interaction God appears rather pompous. He declares that the only reason salvation will occur is because He is merciful and just. Although what he says can be understood, the practical logic behind his argument is rather cyclical and sometimes incomprehensible. In theory, God had the ability to create a more ideal universe in which Satan is not necessarily evil and man does not fall, yet God knowingly chooses not to do so. Satan, on the other hand, seems almost more human, in the sense that he is a sensitive and more conscious being. Satan is only vengeful because he believes that God will not have mercy on him, and this logic is flawless from the reader's perspective since in Book III there is textual evidence that states that God will not help Satan and the other fallen angels because of the their sin. it came from themselves, and only from themselves. Thus Satan is condemned to Hell forever. When God is taken literally, evil undoubtedly arises, for Satan would cease to exist as an evil creature were it not for God's reckless tongue. Firsthand, Satan acknowledges that he owes God "an immense debt of infinite gratitude, so burdensome still to pay, still to owe..." but it is destiny, a destiny created by God that keeps him an "inferior angel". I have fallen" indicates that it is the evil side of Satan that falls, not the "thou" or "thee" that represents his good state of being. Satan separates himself from his good state, but his motivation for doing so is vague It does not necessarily identify with the evil state more than with the good as we usually think, because this could only occur when goodness is accepted and evil emerges, not when goodness itself is ignored. It divides itself into two beings to protect the goodness of himself, thus protecting the good from being corrupted again as had happened before, which culminated in his expulsion from heaven. "Pride" and "worst ambition" are the cause of his fall, says Satan , yet it is clear that it is not pride that motivates this speech, but uncertainty. “Thank you [Satan], and more than half [of the human race] will perhaps reign” (line 112), he says; ambition here becomes a source of motivation when Satan is unsure of himself, as he sees revenge through the corruption of Adam and Eve as the only way to triumph over God. Satan has lost some of his former appeal, but has certainly gained some of the reader's compassion. The irony is that it is precisely the compassion of God that Satan fears he will never be able to have, and it is this belief that pushes him to move away forever from his former goodness: "For true reconciliation can never grow there.