Postmodernism

“Him who disobeys”: A Comparative Analysis of Satan and Lucifer

ABSTRACT:

Within this work, I intend to discuss an interesting dialogue existing between Neil Gaiman's graphic
novel Sandman  and John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost. Such analysis turns to be relevant since the
rereading of John Milton's text occurs through a creative parallel related to the characters Lucifer
from Sandman  and Satan from Paradise Lost . Lucifer and Satan can be considered agents of actions
who question and brake with the rules imposed by the so-called unique and concluded act of creation.
Their actions question the very existence of the struggle between Heaven and Hell, suggesting new
reflections about the perpetuation the oldest of the conflicts. The two characters take upon themselves
critical positions not only in relation to Heaven but also to Hell. Through a process of creative translation
or “transluciferation”, both characters are responsible for movements of deviation, which refuse an
imposed order and suggest alternatives to the fixed and finished origin. This reading is developed in
association with concepts from different authors, like Gilles Deleuze, Felix Guatarri and Haroldo de
Campos.

Keywords : creative translation, deviation, rereading.

Lucifer: The abdication

Sandman is well acknowledged for combining different artistic manifestations such as Literature, Drama
and Visual Arts. The dialogue with Paradise Lost  is indeed one of the most interesting
within Sandman series, since it allows an alternative reading of Milton 's text. The most illustrative
example of this dialogue occurs in the story “Season of Mists” (1991). Assembled in issues #21 to # 28,
“Season of Mists” occupies a very important place within the longer plot. Relevant events, which are
fundamental links to the entire story, take place within this storyline; events that were established in past
issues and events that will define future acts and decisions; moreover, it is in this series that important
characters are introduced. “Season of Mists” is introduced with a prelude chapter where a family meeting
reveals a setting of conflicts and rivalry among some of the Endless, resulting in tense discussions whose
zenith consists in the announcement of very important decisions that can change the course of very great
events.

Thousands of years ago, Sandman, also known as Dream, imperiously banished his human lover Nada to
Hell because she rejected his offer to become his queen. His feeling of guilt led him on a potentially
deadly journey to Hell in order to free his former lover from the realm of his sworn enemy, Lucifer.

Preparing for battle, Dream approaches the main gate of Hell and discovers that it is already open, and
unguarded. He immediately goes to where he last left Nada, only to find out that she is no longer there.
Dream then notices that no one else seems to be around, and calls for Lucifer. When the fallen angel
appears, and after a brief conversation, he declares that he has quit his job, abdicated his position as
ruler of Hell.
Then, they walk together while Lucifer locks up the various gates of Hell, explaining his decision. Dream
watches Lucifer free the tortured souls, sending the last residents of Hell away. Once the process is
completed, Lucifer has his wings cut off by Dream. But before he himself abandons his realm, the fallen
angel leaves Dream the key to the infernal kingdom, freeing himself of his final obligation. Dream then
becomes very upset because the key is something completely outside of his normal responsibilities,
something he cannot possess. Besides having no desire to keep the key for himself, he must make a
decision that may change very important events in an unprecedented manner.

Uncomfortable questions torment him. When he asks his sister, Death, for help, her reply is: “What do you
want to do? Open a skiing resort? Turn it into a theme park? Sell it to the highest bidder? It's your choice.
You've got the place. What do you want to do with it?” (Gaiman, Jones, Russel, 1991#24:13). Lucifer's
threat to destroy Dream is, thus, made concrete.

As result, a number of gods and entities drive to Dream's kingdom, “The Dreaming”, to try to persuade
him to grant them the ownership of Hell. Sandman has to be very diplomatic while hosting powerful
beings that try to convince him that one of them best deserves to inherit the key. Among them, Odin, Thor
and Loki from Aesir; the incarnations of the Lords of Chaos and Order; Remiel and Duma from Silver
City , Azazel, representing the demons; Anubis, Bast, and Bes, deities from the Egyptian pantheon, are
all in search of the key. Susano-O-No-Mikoto, the god of thunderstorms in Japanese Shinto mythology,
and Cluracan and Nuala, emissaries from Faerie, are also some of the entities interested in reclaiming the
possession of Hell.

After pondering about the bids and coercive demands, Sandman decides to give the key to Remiel and
Duma, the emissaries from Heaven, who then became the new rulers of the infernal realm. Meanwhile,
Lucifer rests on an Australian beach, watching the sunset and enjoying his new life on earth, and some
time later, sets up his own piano bar Lux, situated in Los Angeles.

It is important to mention that Hell as a domain has been used by comics for some time. DC Comics'
representation of Hell shares views with the Jewish and Christian tradition and with Greek mythology, the
Norse pantheon, Egyptian entities, among others. The characterization of the place in “Season of Mists”
is thus:

Once upon a time, there was a place that wasn't a place. It had many names: Avernus, Gehenna,
Tartarus, Hades, Abaddon, Sheol ... It was an inferno of pain and flame and ice, where every nightmare
had come true long since...We'll call it Hell. (Gaiman, Jones, Jones III, 1991#22:1)

Within the internal social organization of DC's Hell, the oldest demons are also the most powerful. There
is a complex hierarchy of Kings, Queens , Princes, Lords, Archdukes, Dukes and other nobles. Among
the most prominent demons are the Rhymers, who speak in rhymes as a sign of their social status. [1]

Through this summary, it can be perceived the profusion of details that compose the story arc. The
possible transformation of Hell into an empty place raises many important questions regarding the war
with Heaven. Moreover, Lucifer's abdication represents a movement of emancipation. Though, it is
important to mention that Sandman 's Lucifer is conceived as the angel who headed the rebellion against
the Creator and as a consequence was the first to fall, becoming the first and foremost of the demons,
also known as the Morning Star or Light-Bearer. Differently from the biblical text, Sandman's  Lucifer is not
conceived as an evil being and is not related to sin, suffering and pain; instead, the character is
ambivalent, an angelic/demonic being. In the script of chapter 2 of “Season of Mists”, Gaiman remarks:

Bear in mind that Lucifer is not necessarily a bad person; or at least, that people can change, and repent
– that leopards sometimes do change their spots, given enough time. He's had a long time to think things
over, after all ... and he used to be an angel. (Quoted in Bender, 1999:95)

That is, the transformation from angel of light into demon does not mean a passage from good to evil, but
indicates modification. And the character is not directly related to the moral aspects commonly attributed
to the corrupted soul. Instead, the fallen angel is aware of possible alternatives and he chooses among
them, first rebelling and second abdicating; with both acts, Lucifer achieves changes.

It is relevant to observe that the episode involving Lucifer's abdication resignifies Satan's conduct in John
Milton's Paradise Lost . Through a parallel between the actions of Satan and Lucifer, it is possible to
explore an alternative reading of the texts.

However, it is important to notice that in Sandman  -- following DC Comics -- even after the fall, the
angelic name was held, while in Paradise Lost , Lucifer became Satan. In the two texts there occurs the
transformation of the “angel of light” into a “demon of darkness,” but the naming of one and another,
instead of a mere convention, implies political choices. The name Satan is straightly related to the demon
being, implying a pejorative reading of the character; while Lucifer holds the references to the angelic
past.

In spite of their differences, it is possible to say that Paradise Lost  's Satan and Sandman  's Lucifer are
transgressors not only in Heaven but also in Hell. They are characters who do not conform themselves to
the Creator's will upon what they are meant to be and to do. They confront the idea of being rulers of a
simple mirror image of Heaven. Both are conscious of themselves as changeable and creative beings
who are free to move according to their own plans, which are to empty out Hell, in the case of Lucifer, and
to appropriate God's creation, in Satan's case.

Postmodernism

“Him who disobeys”: A Comparative Analysis of Satan and Lucifer

Deviation

Lucifer's locking of Hell disobeys and challenges the creator's authority by questioning the permanence of
an opposition between Heaven and Hell. His action shows that there is no point in maintaining such an
obsolete conflict. On the contrary, his attitude demonstrates that Hell can be redefined, reshaped;
Lucifer's vision of Hell is of a transitory ‘place' exposed to processes of transformation.

The emptying and closing of the infernal realm can be read as an opening of new paths leading to Hell.
The existence of several entrances that are also exits shows the multiple passages and connections that
can lead to Hell. It is reasonable to understand Lucifer's action of emptying Hell as an act of
transformation, which gives rise to the manifestation of Hell's multiplicity. In other words, Hell is closed but
simultaneously open to many other connections or readings, disregarding the totalyzing rules of an
imposed place.

It is possible to trace a parallel between Lucifer's act and the rhizome theory defended by Gilles Deleuze
and Félix Guatarri if we consider that the modified Hell is like a rhizome, since the rhizome is
characterized as non-hierarchical multiplicities that cannot be subsumed in a unified structure. According
to Deleuze and Guatarri, the rhizomatic space is formed not around a center but on a dispersed plane;
this plane is accessible in any place and the points of convergence formed by the accessed places are
the hypertextual knots, filled with transitory and changeable sense (Deleuze and Guatarri. 1995:11).
Thus, the constant movement occurring in a rhizomatic space is not orderly determined. In fact, a
continuous process of transition that results in plural and variable knots of senses characterizes the
rhizome.

In these terms, the angelic procedure in Hell, i.e. the emptying and closing, follows the same logic. That is
to say, like the rhizome, Hell is open and connectable in many directions; it can be reshaped,
transformed, adapted in different manners. Moreover, an empty Hell can potentially be any place; more
than this, an empty Hell it is not necessarily a Hell.

Moreover, we may say that Satan is also interested in challenging the limitation established by Heaven
in Paradise Lost . The rebellion against the Creator's impositions, expressed in the following verses,
sounds like a claim to transformation, disregarding changes in power structures and questioning the
established order:

O Chief of many throned powers

God‘s supremacy and eternity as sole ruler is challenged, suggesting that even the power structure of
Heaven can suffer transformation. Satan's action turns out to be a problematization of the Creator's
permanence as the highest authority, and for that reason, he is sentenced to fall. But even after the fall,
his attitude as questioner and challenger is maintained, as can be seen in the proposition of appropriating
and disintegrating God's creation: “To waste his whole creation, or possess, / all as our own, and drive, as
we were driven” (Milton, 1996:41). The idea of waste refers to returning things to the initial emptiness
from where heaven and earth first arose. This does not mean to bring things to nothingness; it is much
more like a process of dis-orientation, de-structuration, bringing things to dis-order: “This would surpass/
Common revenge, and interrupt his joy, / In our confusion” (Milton, 1996:41). Satan, like Lucifer, offers an
alternative to binary oppositions, and this alternative is closely related to chaos. Yet, chaos is not
conceived as a simple state of disorganization, but is closer to the idea of an initial void. From the Greek,
Kaos means something like “gaping void,” that is to say, the nothingness state from which all things
emerged; or the place in which things existed in a disordered and amorphous shape before being
organized.

Paradise Lost is configured upon a problematic relation of authority, as the epic calls attention to the
uncertainty of origin thus: an attentive reading of it opens the gates to more than one possibility of
beginning. Furthermore, the idea is that the beginnings are there to be re-viewed, re-created. Such re-
creations can be observed as possible translations of an original text: not only Milton translating the
biblical text in his epic, but also Satan translating God's text of origin, through his new rebellion. Likewise,
Lucifer's act shows that the possibility of creation is not concentrated in one single hand. Actually, he is a
being who creates, that is, he has the power of creativity, which he shows through a de-creating (creative)
act that results in closing Hell and quitting his job. Lucifer's view of origin, instead of permanent, is of a
continuum changeable and ephemeral. When he closes Hell, he confirms the fact that origins are possible
to be altered. All this contests the Genesis narrative as unique and complete. The origin, better saying,
the origins, are far from finished, they are open-ended, incomplete and imperfect, which means that even
God's creation can be affected by alterations.

For that reason, it is possible to say that the redefining movements of Satan in Paradise Lost  and Lucifer
in Sandman  are in a sense, movements of rupture, transgression, and reverse reading. According to the
Brazilian critic, Haroldo de Campos, the reversed reading, more than a simple inversion of dichotomies, is
conceived as a creative translation, a “transluciferation”, of sacred texts. These purposes stimulate the
unsatisfied characters to their movements of refusing the tyranny of an imposed origin, breaking with the
confinement of unique readings, questioning the ownership of creation acts.

In Sandman , Lucifer's conduct in Hell can be read as a wish to enjoy himself in another possibility of life,
but also a process of maturing, leaving his “place”, for a second time. By moving to Los Angeles, the city
of Angels, and going to a place called Lux , “the best damned nightclub and restaurant in this whole city
of angels” (Gaiman, Hempel, Case 1995#68:13), Lucifer is being ironic to himself and to his movement of
leaving darkness towards light. With this act, Lucifer demonstrates awareness of his changing processes,
and lives not as a mere force of negation anymore, but as a mutable self, aware of himself as a construct,
not fixed and stable, but changeable and provisional.

Likewise, in Paradise Lost , Satan is aware of himself as an autonomous being: “What matter where, if I
be still the same, /And what I should be, all but less than he, / Whom thunder hath made greater?”
(Milton, 1996:14). This passage is based on Satan's consciousness of him-self as a changeable and
creative being, one who is free to move according to his own plans. Thus Satan challenges the Creator:
“Him who disobeys, /Me disobeys, breaks union, and, that day, / ...falls, / Into utter darkness” (Milton,
1996:131). This self-awareness causes his fall, because although conscious of a possible and severe
punishment, he chooses to rebel. But this is the same self-awareness that, afterwards, allows him to
create the plan to conquer God's creation.

We may therefore consider that Milton 's text is recovered in Sandman through the resignification of
Satan. Lucifer, like Satan, is conceived as an angelic/demonic being who demands the abolition of
defined directions, and takes upon himself a critical position not only in relation to Heaven but also to Hell,
suggesting new reflections about the perpetuation of the oldest of conflicts.

Works Cited:
Bender , Hy. The Sandman Companion . New York . Vertigo DC Comics, 1999.

Campos , Haroldo. “Transluciferação Mefistofáusitca”. Deus e o Diabo do Fausto de Goethe . São Paulo:

Deleuze , Gilles and Félix Guatarri. Mil Platôs  . Rio de Janeiro: Ed. 34, 1995.

“ Chaos ” Encyclopedia Mythica Greek Mythology . Jan. 2002

Gaiman, Neil (w), Kelley Jones (a), and Malcom Jones III (i). Sandman: Season of Mists . #23. New
York : DC Comics, 1991.

________, Kelley Jones (a), and P.Craig Russel (i). Sandman: Season of Mists  . #24. New York : DC
Comics, 1991.

_________ , Marc Hempel (a), and Richard Case (i). Sandman: The Kindly Ones  . #68. New York : DC
Comics, 1995.

Haglund , David. Unofficial Guide to DC Universe , 2004.

Milton , John. Paradise  Lost . London : Penguin, 1996.

Note:

[1]  For further information, see: Unofficial Guide to DC Universe, 2004.