irst, she tells Jake that he compares to somebody inside a dream only to follow up with a description of a dream she had where the Devil was friends with Joe. Then she states, “Joe…told me that the Devil wasn’t real, and that he had conjured up the Devil out of his own strength, just as God might do.” The metaphor of Jacob as Satan does not necessarily imply that he is pure evil. It does however manifest the devilish qualities of creating temptation, scrambling a person’s life, and not assuming responsibility for any harm or damage caused.Rennie’s inescapable death symbolizes that man is doomed to failure. Her struggle between good and evil, reason and un-reason, and being and non-being, leaves her with no control over her own life. God and Satan are constantly fighting for the soul of man. The human personality is not vast or strong enough to yield to both of these forces and still remain independent enough from either one to be self-sufficient and complete as an individual....
