The Visitant

5 Pages 1302 Words

"The Visitant"
In my opinion, Markheim’s visitant was a demon… perhaps Satan himself. This was my first impression, and I plan to stick with it. Though the visitant may have seemed partially kind and caring, he was actually, in my opinion, telling partial truths to get Markheim hooked, then telling complete lies. He was also trying to get him to commit even more sins by doing this. If you ask me, this sound like the work of Satan, and if one wished to look deeply into this, he would see that the visitant carries many traits of Satan, as written about in the Bible.
Many seem to believe that this visitant was an angel, had many traits of an angel, or was, perhaps, Markheim’s own conscience. Let us examine this situation more closely. If this visitant were, in fact, an angel, would an angel offer to help one steal? Would an angel tell someone to kill? I believe that the fact bringing others to believe that he was an angel lies in him telling Markheim how he had progressed so steadily in doing evil deeds. To others, this may have seemed to be a sort of conviction, but when I look at this situation, it appears to me that the visitant is telling him this, only to prove that he is doomed to it. Another thing making him appear to some as an angel would be that, when Markheim stated firmly that he would not commit to evil, it said, “The features of the visitor began to undergo a wonderful and lovely change; they brightened and softened with a tender triumph; and, even as they brightened, faded and dislimned.” (pg.46) This may seem as though the visitant’s goal was to turn him towards God, and in it, he was triumphant… This, on the other hand, cannot be so. Let’s not forget his repeated offers to help Markheim steal the money, his constant reference to the return of the maid, or his recommendation to kill her in order to resist having a witness against him. I have even greater proof that this visitant was not sent by G...