In Dr. Philip Zimbardo’s psychology experiment called the Stanford prison experiment, he came to realization without rules and structure of the guards, they can take matters into their own hands and do whatever they want. The prisoners were deindividualized and were just called by their number on their uniform. The cruel and unusual punishments that the guards inflicted got too out of hand would cause the prisoners to have a mental breakdown and wouldn 't be able to finish the experiment. Zimbardo called this the lucifer effect. In William Golding’s novel “Lord of the Flies” and Sheryl St. Germain’s poem “In the Garden of Eden,” Lucifer and evil are also temptations, which eventually creates the fall of man.
Satanic References in Literature Depictions of the ultimate force of evil have existed for thousands of years. In Christianity, the name Satan or Lucifer has been given to define this evil, depicting him as a half human and half goat. Lucifer is fabled to exist since the beginning of time. Due to Lucifer being the representation of the most ancient evil, he is presented in many different forms in dark literature. This is shown in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone, and I must tell you all that I shall not
The short stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’Connor and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, by Joyce Carol Oates revolved around the themes of good and evil. Both the themes of good and evil are parallel to how people portray the concept of both dark and light. The short stories are similar in their religious references conveyed by their antagonists, but the development and the characters give readers varying perspectives. The antagonists of the stories are figurative representations of Satan.
For example, many people view satan as a demonic fallen angel. However, in Dante's inferno, Satan is described as, “When I beheld three faces on his head! The one in front, and that vermilion was; Two were the others, that were joined with this above the middle part of either shoulder, and they were joined together at the chest.” (Canto XXXIV Line. 40)
What drew me into the TV show Lucifer, is that the main character is completely honestly about who he is. He is Lucifer Morningstar, now ex-ruler of Hell. All throughout the series Lucifer will introduce himself and while no one believes him, you still get a feel that deep down they know, and accept that the Devil is right in front of them, and they are okay with that. Lucifer is charming, seductive, and full of puns about his father. He left Hell went to LA with a demon named Mazikeen.
He had abandoned me, and in the bitterness of my heart I cursed him” (119). The Creature is immensely influenced by “Paradise Lost” using many references to relate itself to its scenario. It finds itself more similar to Satan since both have diffilcuties coping with rejection from their Creators. However, the Creature shares more similarities to Adam since
Dante depicts Lucifer, who was once the most beautiful Angel, as a he does to show his punishment. He is given three faces and bat-like wings as punishment for rebelling against God. His three faces were of different colours and his once golden wings, now “no feathers had they, but as of a bat their fashion was” (Alighieri 49-50). All the beauty, that he was known for, was gone.
The devil in the story is the subconscious and innate desires of humanity because he reveals that, “Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome again, my children, to the communion of your race” (Hawthorne 8). Once a person comes to the realization of his or her own personal
Therefore it can be said that power gives evil the need to feed off the fear of others, it drives them to suppress their emotions and mindset providing them the opportunity to commit such acts that would previously be considered “sins”. Mr. Zimbardo’s theory on the Lucifer effect can been seen in action through the entire movie. The lucifer effect begins to tell us a couple of reasons as to why sometimes good eggs can turn bad. One of those reasons being authority, while the other relies on dehumanization, or the process of stopping to see someone as fully human. The process of dehumanization can be said to eliminate guilt or human feelings toward a misdeed, it takes away need to be moral and do good evil and opens the dam for the evil lurking to lash out.
Origins of Lucifer This section will explain the origins of Lucifer, his proper name, which is actually ‘Heylel’ but we will discuss more about his name shortly, and finally what this being is. It is a widely accepted theological stance that whilst in heaven Lucifer was the “chief worship leader”. However, is this stance truly correct and if so how does this affect the act of mankind’s worship to God? It is recorded in the Bible that the two Major Prophets, Ezekiel and Isaiah, both describe a heavenly conversation concerning Lucifer. Firstly we will analyse the words of Ezekiel recorded in the Book of Ezekiel Chapter 28 verses 13-15: “Thou [Lucifer] hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius,
My knowledge of the Bible is limited to what was reiterated to me in church. Growing up, I was taught that Satan was once a good angel who rebelled against and disobeyed God because he was jealous and wanted to be more powerful than God. I never questioned this because I thought seeking answers and clarification would be going against God. For some Christians, Satan is the
Within John Milton’s books “Paradise Lost” he creates Satan as the greater character over God. One who works through the individuals to create havoc. Satan is able to skew the minds of man to do what he wants with that individual and to counteract the word of God. A well known example was then Satan manipulated Eve to eat from the fruit of knowledge of Good and Evil. Though some critics may say that within Eve was Satan’s ultimate defeat others may say Satan’s evil soul is embedded in Adam and Eve, soon enough they are kicked from the palace of lush gardens, and everlasting life.
As Louis L. Martz dictates in his piece titled, “Paradise Lost: The Realms of Light,” Satan’s descent into Hell, following banishment from Heaven, catalyzes the entrance of light and dark imagery into the novel. Satan, now barred from the, “happy Realms of Light,” recognizes his separation from his former alliance with the divine essence (qtd in Martz 72.) In his brief period of grief, Satan finds himself struggling towards the light that radiates from Heaven, signaling the presence of innate light still within the fallen being. However, this light soon becomes squandered when Satan finds it, “better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven,” (1.263) In his decision, the prevalence of darkness within Hell increases and eventually seeps into the secular realms created by God.
To begin his mission, Milton devoted his first book of Paradise Lost to introduce Satan along with his falling angels in Hell attempting to plan a revenge on God. So, Satan is the central figure of book 1, a figure that Milton presents with plenty of epithets and with a magnificent energy and a personal pride. To what extent did Paradise Lost present Satan as a moral agent? Given the politics of the English revolution and restoration, how precisely should we interpret Satan’s language and policy in Hell? Did the spiritual poem reveal the 17th century religious beliefs or Milton’s ones?
