Abstract
As one contemplates the marvels of nature, one must be conscious of the beautiful world with its pure air, with its canopy of the heavens, its blending colors of the rainbow, with the richness of snow-capped mountains, the fertility of the valleys, the grandeur of forest. Whoever observes the universe and considers the admirable order manifested by the never-failing alternation of seasons, the regular change of day and night, and the fixed courses of the planets, must conclude that there is an intelligent Designer and Ruler of the universe; one is forced to admit the existence of a First Cause. Philosophy and religion both assert that this One First Cause Is an infinitely perfect Being, Who has made all things perfectly. But If so, how then can we account for all the sufferings, pain, misery and wretchedness, - all this we shall call evil - that stares at us from every side? Where and how may we find a solution to this universal problem of evil? Although an answer to this difficult question Is most often sought In philosophical and theological systems, it is also found In literature. The answer which literature gives is, of course, ultimately reducible to some philosophical or theological basis of thought in the light of which the artist makes his personal contribution to the solving of this age old question.