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“Page?”
“Page 908,” came his sharp response, “where Lucifer first speaks.”
I reread the excerpt fromParadise Lost.
Here at leastwe shall be free;
the Almighty hath not built here for his envy,
will not drive us hence:
here we may reign secure,
and in my choice to reign is worth ambition, though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.
There wasa bit of rambling from the devil before and after, but this was the crux of the speech.
“Well, it seems that the Fallen Angel is pouting about being thrown out of heaven, but he’s also happy to have a place of his own where God can’t tell him what to do. Sort of like kids going away to college.”
A few snickers behind me. Professor Bennett’s mouth tightened into a line.
“True, Ms. Drake. But what do you think of the quote where Milton expounds on the topic when he says, ‘The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.’ How are these ideas related to Lucifer’s fall?”
Damn, he was really punishing me for being late. I pondered a second or two.
“I suppose the idea that Hell has become Lucifer’s kingdom or domain where he can reign however he sees fit is similar to our minds. We can choose to use our knowledge or intellect to create beautiful things like art or terrible things like war.”
“Not exactly—”
“Or,” I cut him off before he shot me down, “it could mean that we use our minds to make beautiful things ugly or ugly things beautiful with the way we view the world, treat others, or just live our own lives.”
How’s that for only having taken Philosophy 101? Professor Bennett was about to reply, but I had a question for him this time.
“What I want to know is what’s so great about reigning and being in charge? Lucifer goes on and on about how power in hell is better than being a servant in heaven. But who wants all those responsibilities? I don’t get it. I’d rather do my own thing and not worry about everybody else.”
“Not everyone is like you, Genevieve,” said Carol next to me, the stuck-up blonde who was the daughter of a senator or congressman or something.
Poor them.
“True, Ms. Drake,” said Professor Bennett. “Power is a responsibility.”
“Yeah,” agreed my study partner Malcolm, “just like Uncle Ben said, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’”
“Who’s Uncle Ben?” asked Carol.
Malcolm rolled his eyes.
“FromSpider-Man? Come on. Seriously?”
“So,” I continued, “if the devil has all this power in hell, why does he need to possess people? He can do whatever he wants in his own domain. Why mess around up here?”
“Ms. Drake, you’re confusing Milton’s fiction with demon mythology. Both of which aren’t actually real. You know that, right?”
“No, I don’t know that. How do you know?”
An expression of self-satisfied smugness plastered itself on his perfect face.
“It is known inallintellectual circles. Demons do not actually exist. Angels do not actually exist. This is a tale to discuss on the intellectual plane, not for determining the reality of the devil’s actions.”
