The Private Memoirs And Confessions Of A Justified Sinner Essay

Many of the sects of Christianity believe not only in spirits and ghosts but also in their possession of living beings. Possession is sometimes thought to occur when a person is at their weakest and most vulnerable. This seems to be true in Robert Wringham Colwan case; he is a Calvinist and supposed elect as well as the dark and troubled narrator of the confessional part of this novel who details and accounts his association with the devil-like figure of Gil-Martin. In James Hogg’s novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, a question arises in the reader’s mind whether the Devil, or Gil-Martin, has truly possessed Robert or if Robert has rather created this figure for blame and assignment of guilt because of his burden

Being raised a Calvinist and led to believe his was one of the elect, Robert’s actions hold almost no meaning for himself because he will be “saved” regardless. This lack of empathy and morality led to a destructive nature and deterioration of his mind. From his upbringing, he was never taught to be strong of will nor firmly rooted in ethics and morality. Instead, he was told that his no matter what he did, he had a place in salvation. This thriving of weakness and lack of control breeds a wildly uncontrolled man who, troubled by his past, must conjure the character of Gil-Martin so that his guilt can be shifted onto another. It is after the moment that Robert is told that he is one of the elect that Gil-Martin appears; this occurrence cannot be a coincidence. However, this passing of guilt does signify that Robert still has some sense of right and wrong. Though this may be true, his beliefs and ethics crumble beneath the weight of this immense fault inside Robert, leading him to become a shell of a man possessed perhaps not by the Devil himself but by his own fears and