John Milton divided the characters in his epic poem Paradise Lost into two sides, one side under God representing good, and the other side under Satan representing evil and sin. Milton first introduced the reader to the character Satan, the representative of all evil, and his allegiance of fallen angels that aided in his revolt against God. Only later did Milton introduce the reader to all-powerful God, leader and creator of all mankind. Throughout the book we meet several characters that fall on either side of the good and evil line. These characters are on each side for a certain reason as Milton tells us why in the text. This introduction of Satan first led the reader to believe acts of sin were good, just like Eve felt in the Garden of Eden when she was enticed by Satan to eat the fruit off of the Tree of Knowledge. The later introduction of The Almighty had the readers change their feelings towards sin, as the ways of God were introduced to them and these ways were shown to be the way to feel and believe. This levy of good vs. evil carried on throughout the poem with the interaction of Satan and his fallen angels with God and his son in Heaven. The common representation of sin and evil came from the lead character in the battle against God, Satan. His name means "enemy of God." He was a former high angel from Heaven named Lucifer, meaning, "Light bearer." Satan became jealous in Heaven of God's son and formed an allegiance of angels to battle against God, only for God to cast them out of Heaven into Hell. This did not bother Satan at first since he became the leader in Hell rather than a servant in Heaven. Satan believed that it was, "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. Much of Satan's reliance on getting things accomplished came from his ability to lie and deceive. He lied to the fallen angels about the Son and his "vice-regency" in Heaven in order for them to follow him instead of The Son. He also concealed his true...
