Some entity speaks to Haverner through his reflection in a mirror, tells him that he has not gone insane, offers him a deal of some sort and invites him to return at a later date. When he keeps the evening appointment, thunder booms, lightning flickers and a breeze flaps the curtains. Does the entity control the weather? It advises Haverner to follow tradition by calling it "Samael" but what tradition?
The archangel Samael is not necessarily evil. See here. Maybe the entity's advice and tests have good consequences?
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
My vague recollection of Samael was that he was, at the very least, ambiguous. And my impression was of that "entity" being subtly evil. I tink I will soon start rereading THE DEVIL'S GAME.
Ad astra! Sean
Apart from the location, this sounds very similarar to the arrival of the demon, Mephistopheles, in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.
And Samael assures Haverner that he is no Mephistopheles!
Kaor, Paul!
And I did read, in translation, the first part of Goethe's FAUST.
Ad astra! Sean
THE DEVIL’S GAME is full of ambiguity. There’s no -absolute- evidence, in-story, that Samael isn’t a delusion the character is having. Eg., his conviction that he can’t be killed early in his career may be false, but the extreme self-confidence is real and enables him to accomplish great things. OTOH, maybe he really has made a deal with the devil.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree with how much ambiguity can be seen in THE DEVIL'S GAME. That increases its interest to me. Samael might after all, be only a delusion suffered by Haverner. Or was there a real deal with the Devil? We never find out for sure!
Yes, extreme self-confidence can enable men to accomplish great things, either bad or good.
Ad astra! Sean
As one of my instructors said to me, you need self-confidence to prevail... but arrogance gets you killed.
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