Paradise Lost

I am at the part where Satan is gathering his forces to rise up again. Milton keeps referring to the size of Satan's army by giving examples of forces that are smaller. One would assume that Satan's army would contain many demons, but Milton goes on for over a page about how large the army is. I think that this is a little much, even with Paradise Lost being an epic, this is too much description of the army's size. On the other hand, Milton could have done this because it is an epic and we wanted to make sure that everyone would know how large the army was.

Milton also seems to make Satan the protagonist. He presents Satan as the "little guy" that you root for. You know that God will always win, so it is not as much fun to root for a sure thing. We have talked about this in class and it seems that Milton does this to make you think. Satan is more relatable to us because he has human-like qualities. God is not easily relatable because he is God; he is perfect, all-knowing, and all-powerful. Becuase Satan is more relatable you find yourself cheering him on. There does not seem to be anything wrong with this, and then Satan shows his true colors. It catches you off guard because he seemed like a down-on-his-luck person just trying to make it, but he is really plotting his revenge against God. Satan also is plotting about how he and his demons will only do evil and never try to do good. The way Satan tricks you at first into rooting for him is akin to sin. Sin at first seems like a good idea, it draws you in just as Satan draws you in. Then it reveals itself as the evil things you never actually wanted to do. Satan loves sin, so it is normal that the two reflect each other.

In the first book Satan also bulids Pandemonium. This is a temple-like building honoring Satan. I find this almost ironic becuase when I think of temples it reminds me of worshiping God. It seems to me that Satan wants to be like God, so he is copying him. Since copying is considered the greatest form of flattery, I guess that it is good that Satan is copying God. It shows that Satan knows that God is the greatest and that we as humans should be aware of this as well. This might have been what Milton wanted us to learn, that even Satan wanted to be like God, meaning that God is the greatest thing ever.