The Mysterious Stranger: Dependence On Others

Part I of Essay
In "The Mysterious Stranger" Mark Twain portrays a society so dependent on outside sources for guidance that the majority of Eseldorf's citizens do not have independent thought. This reliance is what eventually ruins many of the resident's lives and Satan merely serves to ....

Part II of Essay
.... on the idea of Moral Sense. Moral Sense is "the faculty which enables us to distinguish good from evil," however Eseldorf's citizens only know what is religiously virtuous so this is how they define Moral Sense. The people think that their freewill is what separates them from the "beasts" but they do not have enough understanding of reality outside their village to utilize their freewill. All the decisions they make are based on their belief of God's will for them and are not really their own. Satan's visit demonstrates to the people the e ....