Book I found in the dumpster


Mark Twain's The Mysterious Stranger is very ironic, and I finished it not really knowing what it was really about. It follows a young boy living in about 1590, during the Scientific Revolution (before the Enlightenment). In my opinion, the setting reflects a lot of steryotypes of the medeival period such as  superstition, witchcraft, cruelty and very low standards of reasoning. 

This yound boy called Theodor encounters an angel named Satan which is even more ironic that it sounds because Satan the Angel seems to have a lot in common with Satan the Devil, but of course Theodor never realizes this. Theodor is enchanted with Satan, this divine, omnipotent and omnicient being, and hangs onto his every word. When Satan does "unethical" things, Theodor is shocked. Gradually, Satan bends his perception of morality by showing Theodor how worthless and stupid humans are. Satan at first seems wise and superior, but it's very unsettelling because he doesn't care what happens to humans. 

Satan does favor the innocent in the story, but even when he tries to "help" them, they all end up crazy or dead. Satan says that this was a kindness, because no one can be truly happy if they are sane, because humanity makes life painful. He elaborates that any happiness anyone feels comes with even more sadness. 

Even Satan's "helpful" actions have horrible consequences for other people. Satan knows that each of his actions have a domino chain of effects, but he doesn't consider those effects becasue he just doesn't care. If someone ends up in Hell (in the story), or gets burned at the stake, or pummelled to death, etc. Satan just sees them as another dead person, like one might see a dead ant. 


Comments

  1. SahnanDecember 17, 2022 at 6:28 PM

    I first clicked on this review because of the title "Book I found in the dumpster". It would've been interesting to hear that story of how you found and decided to start reading the book. This was a good review, and Satan's interactions with Theodor seem very interesting. This book sounds very unique, and I haven't read anything like it.

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