The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

From Freepedia

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner was published by James Hogg in 1824. A classic gothic tale of good vs. evil set in a pseudo-Christian world of angels, devils, and demonic possession, this novel is on the rise in academic circles and has received wide acclaim for its probing quest into the nature of religion fanaticism and Calvinist predestination.

On the surface the novel is a simple tale of a man meeting the devil and the various misadventures that subsequently follow, but on closer inspection the reader begins to doubt and question the most basic events in this tremendously complex novel. The novel is told by three main narrators, all of whom contradict each other and offer their own explanations for everything that has happened.

Brief Plot Synopsis (Warning: Plot Spoiler and Ending included)

The story is first told from the perspective of one of two brothers. George Colwan, the "good" brother, is constantly plagued by his "bad" brother who follows him around and tries to kill him. The story is then told from the perspective of the "bad" brother, Robert Wringham, who explains how he meets up with a dynamic though unorthodox religious instructor named Gil-Martin who teaches him a better way to worship God. After a string of gruesome atrocities are committed under the careful guidance of Gil, Robert is forced to realize that he has been misled and kills himself. The story is concluded in the voice of James Hogg himself who attempts to rationalize and discredit Robert's version of the story and give "hard evidence" to the reader that this a true account and not one that has just made up. The reader is left to figure out what really happened to the various characters for him or herself.