Popular Culture Review 30.1
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 ,” goes 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 interference ” ( 209 ). His wife , Sarah , however , is devout , a fact that surprises Neil since “ there weren ’ t many signs of her devotion ” such as church attendance . Yet , he sees in her “ the best argument for loving God that he had ever encountered . If love of God had contributed to making her the person she was , then perhaps it did make sense ” ( 218 ). The years spent together even improved Neil ’ s view of God and given time , Neil “ probably would have reached the point where he was thankful to God ” ( 218 ). However , he is not given that time .
Unfortunately , Sarah is one of eight casualties during a visitation from the angel Nathanael ; she is “ hit by flying glass when the angel ’ s billowing curtain of flame [ shatters ] the storefront window of the café in which she was eating ” ( 206 ). Witnesses see her ascension to Heaven , and while Neil “ could have seen Sarah ’ s death as a wake up-call ,” he instead becomes “ actively resentful of God ” ( 218 ). He wants to be reunited with Sarah , and the only way to achieve this reunion is for Neil to
30