English 2610

I am really enjoying Paradise Lost. I wonder if anyone has ever tried to make it into a movie? Anyway, I was thinking about lines 253-256. Here, Satan is saying that any place can be Heaven or Hell depending on your frame of mind. I agree with Satan (that sounds weird) because I believe that our mind has the most influence over the way we perceive our situations and circumstances. I have seen two different people go through similar problems, like death, and each person reacted differently and, in turn, the outcomes of those "similar" situations ended up being totally different. I see this in people with depression, as well. Not to say that people with chronic depression can help it, but we all know someone who, to the outside world, appears to be fine-they have all their basic needs taken care of, yet they are sad because the chemicals in their head tell them they are sad. They have created a personal hell for themselves-or their mind has created it if they can't help it. I have also seen people take awful situations and create their own personal heaven-ie, single mothers, widowers, etc. So, I think this is a cool idea from Satan, but it seems like he is justifying his choices to me. It almost seems like Satan knows he made a mistake by rebelling against God and is now trying to convince himself that he made the correct decision. I can say that Satan appears to be a really smart guy. It is interesting to read a book where you can almost sympathize with someone like Satan-hats off to Milton.