In case you haven't noticed, Marvel has cashed in on the whole good-versus-evil thing. There's a plethora of superhero movies out there, and all of them boil down—in one way or another—to this duel between dark and light. In fact, we challenge you to find a superhero film without this concept. But we digress.
In Surrender, Finnigan and Gabriel try to create their own version of the superhero roles by making a pact that sets Gabriel up to only do good stuff, while Finnigan does everything bad. It sounds simple enough, but we're not sure it ends up that way for the two guys. In fact, this book arguably takes the good versus evil debate and turns it on its head, since in the end, we know Finnigan and Gabriel are one and the same.
Questions About Good vs. Evil
- Gabriel promises to only do good, but does he stick to this? What does he do that's bad? Why do you think he does these things?
- The pact is based on the premise that someone can be all good or all bad. Do you think this is realistic? Do you know anyone in real life who fits into either of these categories?
- When we find out the truth about Gabriel and Finnigan (that they are the same person), how does this change the pact? What does it say about their idea to do good or evil exclusively?
- In the end, does good or evil "win"? How do you interpret Gabriel's death?
Chew on This
Since Gabriel and Finnigan are the same person, and Gabriel kills himself in order to end Finnigan's reign of terror, evil wins in this book.
In his decision to kill himself, Gabriel ultimately ushers good to victory. Evil loses because Gabriel sacrifices himself for the greater good.