Faust literature review

Faust finds himself in a precarious situation when his ideological beliefs are called into question. Once idealistic, Faust becomes disillusioned and bitter leading him to sign a contract with the Devil in exchange for power in his life. Faust finds that his life when he leaves his faith in God’s hands is not as he wants it; however he fails to realize his part in this disappointment. Instead of taking responsibility for his own failures he places all of the blame on God.
Faust’s disappointment may be due to the fact that he has unrealistic ideas about how life should be, perhaps if he looked at the Bible in a different context he might better understand that everyone makes their own fate through hard work and struggle. Faust does not want to put forth the effort to change his life and instead takes the easy way out by signing away his soul.
Faust’s conversation with Margaret was a misguided attempt at trying to save face by proclaiming his devotion to God. Faust implies that God is “ The all-enfolding and all sustaining” (Goethe). Even though Faust is trying to show himself as a pious man, his statement reflects that he really feels that God should be responsible for all that is good or bad.
In conclusion, Faust feels that God owes him and the rest of the world happiness. He is unable to understand that he must make his own fate and unwilling to put forth the effort to improve himself. His faith is so misguided by greed and selfishness that he can’t understand the true meaning of God’s words. Faust’s selfishness eventually led to his own downfall.

Works Cited:

Puchner, Martin. “-.” The Norton anthology of world literature: vol : E. E ed. New York: W W Norton, 2012. 99-208. Print.