their world and their place in it , only an individual ’ s desire for knowledge does so . Chiang ’ s story is apocalyptic in that it is the story itself that reveals our search for meaning . We do not need religion to achieve spiritual or material improvement ; what we need is our continuing desire to discover and understand the physical world .
The “ Tower of Babylon ” is a story illustrating the existence of God through the reasoning and observation of its characters , but not by supernatural manifestations . Such is not the case in “ Hell Is the Absence of God .” In the world of the story , the idea of faith as belief without proof is not an issue . Angels make frequent appearances and inhabitants witness the dead ascending into Heaven or descending into Hell . Hell itself becomes visible on occasion , allowing the living to see a place very similar to their world as going to Hell means “ permanent exile from God , no more and no less ” (“ Hell ” 208 ). Angelic manifestations can lead to miracles but can also lead to indiscriminate death and birth defects because of the destructive power of their visitations . Furthermore , anyone caught in “ Heaven ’ s light ,” which appears “ only when an angel [ enters ] or [ leaves ] the mortal plain ,” go to Heaven , even if they are wicked or evil ( 226 ).
The protagonist of the story , Neil Fisk , believes in God ( as do all in this world since there is no question of God ’ s existence ), but he does not love God . Neil views “ God ’ s actions in the abstract ,” believing that “ circumstances were fully capable of unfolding , happily or not , without intervention from above ” ( 206 ). Because Neil is devoid of either positive or negative feelings about God , he fully expects to go to Hell since , “ for people like him , Hell was where you went when you died ” ( 209 ). Permanent exile from God holds no fear for Neil as it means “ living without
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