Mark of Satan

"A woman had come to save his soul, and he didnt think that he was ready"(466). I think that the first statement of the short stories says so much about the character himself. As the previous post mentioned, "Mr. Flashman", is clearly having an inner struggle and its not just between what is right and wrong, but also he struggles with his belief in God. " He said apologetically that he wasnt one hundred percent sure how his credit stood with God these days, "God and me he said have sort of lost contact over the years"The childs response to his statement was that "we can loose God but God never looses us. We can dispair God, but God never despairs us."(469) I think that his statement represents the war that is going on within himself, and ironically enough I think can be connected to the war that is going on outside as well. In a time like we are having now, so many have lost all of their faith in God, I myself have also asked the question how can there be a God when so many awful things are happening in the world. There are people men dying, and children starving but yet people still believe. The character looks back on his life and questions how any mother can be cruel enough to leave her child in the trash for someone else to find. He asks if a mother was cruel enough to leave her baby,"wasnt it a cruel god that was guiding her hand?" Because he mad serval comments like this,I think that another part of this characters inner struggle had something to do with abandoment as well because he was abandoned by his mother at an early age and also felt that God had betrayed him for that same reason. The woman also mentions that God had really nothing to do with that and that wickedness of the world is in Satans hands. Her saying this to him made me think about the good and evil arguement. Heaven and hell. If there is a higher power who does good, can there be a lower power who does bad?

Throughout most of the short story, the character is adament that there is no God, thats why when he falls to the ground begging for forgivness from Thelma, I questioned his intentions. He did a complete turn around. Do you think that his change in behavior could be attriubted to the fact that yet another person was walking away from him. He had been abanded before, and now had another person walking away from him. Did he truly believe that he needed to be "saved" or did he just not want to be left alone again?