A Dialogue with the Devil Magdalena Sikora Encountering the devil sounds like a pretty horrifying experience, doesn’t it? He’s cruel, deceitful, constantly on a quest to corrupt people, and overall evil to the bone. But what about an encounter with a devil who is actually not so devilish? This is the case in James Robertson’s book The Testament of Gideon Mack, where the devil is not the typical master of all that is evil. Don’t get me wrong, he is still responsible for much of what is bad in the world. However, in this book he is going through a professional burn-out, which makes him appear more human. If we ignore his minor outbursts of anger, he even seems almost likeable. Our particular devil comes across Gideon Mack, a faithless minister of the Church of Scotland, and they engage in an intriguing dialogue. It’s a conversation that doesn’t fall short of topics touching upon existential as well as religious matters.
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In their seemingly casual conversation, they bring up the notion of evil as it lies at the core of the Devil’s activity. Gideon has never really believed in the existence of either God or the devil, and his understanding of the latter is rather stereotypical, so to be sure he asks the devil what it is that the fiend actually does. He answers that he doesn’t really do much nowadays, suggesting that there is no need for him to do his usual stuff because people are “going to hell on a handcart” without any help. With this statement, the devil challenges the traditional religious conviction about evil and thus encourages Gideon to reflect on his own beliefs. As readers, we are also provoked to think about such things. Since the one considered responsible for evil just sits in his cave in Scotland jobless and hopeless, we must be the bad guys, right?
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