- Posted Sunday, 10/07/2007, 10:47 AM
Cain and Rasselas
Sarah, That is quite true about the connection between Cain and Johnson's wandering character, Rasselas. His own, often pointless wandering, does parallel the search that R goes through in searching for happiness. Cain's romantic notion of finding his paradise in California is just as mythical as that of Rasselas.
- Posted Friday, 10/05/2007, 09:15 PM
While the influence of Milton on Cain is inescapable, I'm also struck by the meaning behind Cain's purchase and reading of Rasselas. In that work, the prince and his fellow travelers journey through Egypt looking for happiness, trying to find life's meaning, and making choices. Egypt as the setting for Rasselas's journey also brings to mind the biblical story of the Israelites' wanderings through Egypt, a place of trial and tribulation, where their faith was tested. Cain's travels parallel Rasselas's: Cain travels through his own personal Egypt, making choices and figuring out his life. Rasselas and his companions never find what they're looking for; sadly, neither does Cain. So, Cain, while perhaps not directly changed through his reading of Rasselas, as he is through his reading of Milton, nonetheless takes a journey reminiscent of the one that occurs in Johnson's work. -SarahD
- Posted Wednesday, 10/03/2007, 12:41 PM
Cain and Milton
As the author I did feel that Cain was affected by his reading of Milton. Early on he identifies with the heroic and stubborn figure of Satan. He sees in Satan a doomed and tragic figure, a Southerner of heroic dimensions. However, as he reads Milton, as least this time while traveling with Rosetta, he begins to see that he, like Satan, does have a moral choice to make. And like Satan he is a being gifted with free will. He can be vain and egotistical and make the wrong choice like Satan, and thus doom himself. Or he can make a morally right choice and give himself the option of redemption. So Cain, to my mind, is definitely changed through his reading of Paradise Lost.
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