Evil

Tompkins posits the idea that evil is never a person, “evil is a force” (264). She explores evil through her characterization of Jonah, as he believes that he is a monster like his father. Despite the fact that Isaac reassures Jonah that evil “acts on all of us” and “we are all vulnerable to it,” Jonah becomes increasingly consumed with the idea that he is a monster (264). He describes his father’s last moments prior to suicide ashis “last battle with his monster, the end of his lifelong war with evil” (379). In contrast to Jonah’s view that he cannot control the monster inside of him, Isaac feels as though all living beings are capable of evil and it is in the seeking of the Divine that we keep such urges at bay.

Additionally, Tompkins raises philosophical questions regarding evil through Jonah’s internal monologue. Jonah probes...