# The Reward explained — Fifty-One Tales

> Chapter companion for Fifty-One Tales by Lord Dunsany.

## What happens

The narrator wanders from a factory city to the edge of Hell, where an angel is building a new, worse Hell using modern materials and methods. The angel explains that the punishment is for those who sold a harmful new yeast, and despite the narrator's attempts to argue for mercy and justification, the angel remains resolute, citing the suffering of children as his motivation.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Role of the Poet

The narrator acts as a questioning, moral voice, challenging the angel's harsh judgment and representing a humanistic perspective against absolute punishment.

### Death and the Human Condition

The chapter explores the nature of suffering, punishment, and the afterlife, questioning the justice of eternal damnation in a modern context.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator, a traveler from a factory city, encounters an angel building Hell and attempts to reason with him.

### The Devil

Implied as the master of Hell, though the angel is the direct agent building the new addition.

## Key lines

> We are adding to Hell, to keep pace with the times.

The angel explains that Hell is being expanded and modernized to match contemporary standards.

_Highlights the theme of modernization and the adaptation of traditional concepts to the modern world._

> They have invented a new cheap yeast.

The angel cites a new, inexpensive yeast product as the reason for the punishment.

_Illustrates the moral conflict between commerce and human welfare._

> I rested one Christmas Day, and looked and saw little children dying of cancer. I shall go on now until the fires are lit.

The angel took a single day off, witnessed the suffering of innocent children, and resolved to continue building Hell without pause.

_Reveals the angel's motivation rooted in real-world suffering, justifying his relentless work._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-reward
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters