God and Satan

Even though God and Satan are still themselves in both Paradise Lost and Good Omens they hold very different roles and are expressed in very different ways.             

            In Paradise Lost, Satan is known to be evil while God is known to be pure and good.  However as discussed in class, Satan and God hold a very active role in this text while in good Omens they are seen as distant figures with less direct involvement into the lives of their followers.

            What does this mean to the intent of the text?  Paradise Lost is designed to justify the ways of God to man.  This means that the reader must fully understand the personalities and intents of Both God and Satan.  While in Good Omens the intent, in my opinion, is to show the prevalence of nurture over nature and that the good in people will always prevail (even in some demons).  For this purpose Satan and God do not need to have such an upfront role and in fact are never seen directly.  This is because God and Satan are the two exceptions that can never be swayed to see the other side.  While angels, demons, and humans are all in a constant battle between right and wrong. 

            The lack of the physical presence of God and Satan in Good Omens allows the reader to focus on the purpose at hand while the constant view of both the thoughts and actions of God and Satan in Paradise Lost make it very easy for the reader to see he true purposes of their actions. 

            Does this influence the pleasure in reading both texts?  I believe that for me personally this is one of the key factors that make Good Omens a more pleasurable text to read because the reader has an easier time of personally identifying with the characters and can find pieces of themselves within the text.  The reader can then find answers to their own personal struggle between the forces that surround us on our earth.  -Megan