History Literature / JobAComedyOfJustice

* KindlyVet: Alexander Hergensheimer's fate is to be decided by a being who is above God and Satan. Alex is rather scared to be brought before this being, so the being uses Alex's memories of bringing his dog to a KindlyVet, with Alex as the dog.

* OedipusComplex: Patricia claims that there are a lot of "motherhumpers" that wind up in Hell, many of her johns requesting to take on the form of their mothers (or at least some of their characteristics to act out whatever incestuous urges they were unable to act upon in life.
* PalsWithJesus: Alex finds out that the person who was the nicest to him on his journeys was actually [[spoiler: Satan]]. He's the closest thing he has to a friend and ally.

* PowerPerversionPotential: Patricia is a damned soul in Hell who learned how to alter her appearance (presumably through her apprenticeship under Mary Magdalene) as a means of better servicing her clients. When Alex first meets her, he mistakes her for an {{Elfeminate}} PrettyBoy until he gets an unobstructed view of her naked form. She then starts adopting Marge's characteristics to seduce him and even claims that she has taken on the form of her john's mothers to help fulfill their OedipusComplex.

* FantasticCasteSystem: {{Heaven}} runs on a system like this, with various rights and privileges dictating just where on the ladder you are, ranging from what kind of ceremonial wings you get to what lines you wait in to even where you can sit on the bus in. God is the absolute ruler of Heaven, the Angels being first under him. Saints - humans who were chosen by God or where exceptionally holy in their lifetime - are just under them and are allowed special privileges that regular souls do not. Normal saved souls who made it into Heaven are the lowest in the system, bordering on second-class citizenship. There is also special mention of "eternal greats" who "make their own rules", Mary Magdalene being allowed to move between Heaven and Hell freely.

* HellOfAHeaven: Ignoring the various theological implications of what general Christianity thinks of Heaven and the parameters of what getting into it is like, Heaven is portrayed exactly as the Bible describes it, being a massive gem-encrusted walled city where all homes are palaces and it all centers around the massive throne of god and the river of life that encircles it. Hunger and fatigue are all optional and there is nothing noticeably bad about it, the novelty of its grandeur and perfection gets old really fast, something that is a massive problem when you have nothing but eternity to look forward too. Heaven also runs on a FantasticCasteSystem where angels are second to God, saints are third and regular saved souls are almost second-class citizens, with privileges centered around this system and punishments to those who violate it (like when Alex sat with the regular souls in the back of the bus instead of the middle). The angels that run Heaven are all ObstructiveBureaucrat[=s=] who enforce this hierarchy and all behave as snobs and disgruntled employees, seeing humans (or "creatures" as they call them) like one would see immigrants that lower the quality of what was once their world with their problems and needs.

* FantasticCasteSystem: {{Heaven}} runs on a system like this, with various rights and privileges dictating just where on the ladder you are, ranging from what kind of ceremonial wings you get to what lines you wait in to even where you can sit on the bus in. God is the absolute ruler of Heaven, the Angels being first under him. Saints - humans who were chosen by God or where exceptionally holy in their lifetime - are just under them and are allowed special privileges that regular souls do not. Normal saved souls who made it into Heaven are the lowest in the system, bordering on second-class citizenship.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After Alex and Satan win their case to the judge, Alex is reunited with Marge, have a kid and open up their own restaurant in Eden, Alex having learned that faith is not a narrow road and now lives with all of the friends he had made along the way.]]

* GodIsEvil: Played with. Margarethe explains that she believes the Abrahamic God to be a tyrant who's cruelty is born not out of a greater good, but vindictiveness, this being what led her to renounce her faith and convert to Heathenism. [[spoiler:It is later revealed that both {{God}} and {{Satan}} are revealed to be equal players in a [[CelestialBureaucracy much greater game]], several ranks below the ''true'' Supreme Being, and God is the jerk of the two, who insists on worship and relies upon inconsistent and unkind rules to rein in his creations. About the kindest thing said of him is that he does follow through on his promises to those who follow those rules.]]

* AHellOfATime: God created Hell to be a bad place, but then Satan took over and remodeled it into something fairly tolerable. It's notable that the story features a God Is Evil plot that is itself subverted by revealing that God and Satan "take turns" playing the Good and Evil deity role and they're merely junior members of a vast CelestialBureaucracy.

* MindScrew: [[spoiler: What all the world-switching is eventually revealed to be, and even the ending has strong elements of this. It's not even clear which (if any) version of 'reality' is real.]]

--> '''[[spoiler: Odin]]:''' "My warriors, male and female, dead in honorable combat, are my ''equals,'' not my slaves — I am proud to be first among such equals."

* SelfDeprecation: An occupant of hell mentions there being a lot of "motherhumpers" down there. Anybody who reads R.A.H works knows this is one of the author's [[AuthorTract tracts]].

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: To [[Literature/TheBible The Book Of Job]].

* GodIsEvil: Played with. [[spoiler:Both {{God}} and {{Satan}} are revealed to be equal players in a [[CelestialBureaucracy much greater game]], several ranks below the ''true'' Supreme Being, and God is the jerk of the two, who insists on worship and relies upon inconsistent and unkind rules to rein in his creations. About the kindest thing said of him is that he does follow through on his promises to those who follow those rules.]]

Alex Hergensheimer, pastor and manager of the 'Churches United for Decency', takes a relaxing vacation in the South Seas. But after he accepts a bet and walks across hot coals, he's astounded to realize that everybody thinks he's Alec Graham... and even more astounded to discover that 'Alec Graham' is a money-launderer working for the Mafia. And then things start to get ''weird.''

A farcical and sometimes thoughtful re-interpretation of the Biblical Book of Job, which seems to be the misadventures of a dimension-skipping CosmicPlaything - who would really rather be running an ice cream shop with his beautiful (but Asatru) OneTrueLove. But all these trials turn out to be a SecretTestOfCharacter with ''several'' twists at the end.

** The scene is taken directly from Heinlein's favorite book, ''Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice'' by James Cabell. Except that it's [[spoiler: run by the hero's grandmother, who lambasted the god-above-God into making it this way.]]

* ShoutOut: To James Branch Cabell, particularly ''Jurgen''.

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* CaughtUpInTheRapture: The Evangelical Rapture is cited and explicitly occurs. [[spoiler: It's subverted, however, when it's revealed that God (who is a JerkAss) deliberately invoked it as part of a petty scheme to [[SecretTestOfCharacter screw with the protagonist's faith.]]

* BurnTheWitch: In an AlternateUniverse where the dominant religion is Wicca, the young Wiccan convert ''rejects'' the flame her parents worship because "fire means the way they kill us."
* CaughtUpInTheRapture: The Evangelical Rapture is cited and explicitly occurs. [[spoiler: It's subverted, however, when it's revealed that God (who is a JerkAss) deliberately invoked it as part of a petty scheme to [[SecretTestOfCharacter screw with the protagonist's faith]] and, moreover, God and Satan themselves are merely minor deities in a CelestialBureaucracy. The whole scheme ends with a massive ResetButton, except that the hero gets his girl and lives HappilyEverAfter in a GainaxEnding.]]

* DevilInDisguise: Subverted when the protagonist finds out that the best friend he and his wife made through their ordeal was actually the devil himself. Not only had he shown him genuine mercy and friendship, he had turned down the bet with God, thinking it sick and cruel.

* MindScrew: [[spoiler: What all the world-switching is eventually revealed to be, and even the ending has strong elements of this.]]
* MyGirlIsASlut: It's implied that parental incest is itself a cool and groovy thing by the mother of a secondary female love-interest. [[spoiler: Of course, nothing is what it seems - "Father" is Satan in an assumed form, "Mother" is an Ascended Human, and the "daughter" is an unrelated afreet, but as they are played in an expository and sympathetic role rather than an evil one, this may not matter.]]

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: When the ''second'' Mazatlán earthquake hits. [[spoiler: And if it had been a fair test, Loki should have won hands-down at that point. But apparently Loki was having too much fun to declare GameOver, and {{God}} does not like to lose. So the MindScrew continues until it attracts the attention of {{Satan}}.]]

* SatanIsGood: {{Satan}} is much friendlier and more accessible than {{God}}, who's portrayed as [[GodIsEvil kind of a dick]], [[spoiler:and neither of them is the true Supreme Being]].

* SelfDeprecation: A tenant of hell mentions there being a lot of "motherhumpers" down there. Anybody who reads R.A.H works knows this is one of the author's [[AuthorTract tracts]].

* GodIsEvil: Played with. [[spoiler:Both {{God}} and {{Satan}} are revealed to be equal players in a [[CelestialBureaucracy much greater game]], several ranks below the ''true'' Supreme Being, and God is the jerk of the two, who insists on worship and relies upon inconsistent and unkind rules to rein in his creations. To his credit, he does follow through on his promises to those who follow those rules.]]

A Characters page would instantly be a WalkingSpoiler.

Alex Hergensheimer, pastor and manager of the 'Churches United for Decency', takes a relaxing vacation in the South Seas. But after he accepts a bet and walks across hot coals, he's astounded to realize that everybody thinks he's Alec Graham... and even more astounded to discover that 'Alec Graham' is a money-launderer working for OrganizedCrime. And then things start to get ''weird.''

Alex finds himself the plaything of the gods as he's shuttled from one alternate reality to another. What's happening to him? Why him? Is it a sign of the apocalypse? And can he save the soul of the beautiful young woman who has become his companion before it's too late?

!!Provides Examples Of:

* JerkassWoobie: Alex. He's such an insufferable self-righteous prig that the TraumaCongaLine he endures seems almost like a justifiable BreakTheHaughty. Only after the character has won our sympathy with his troubles do we learn some of the things his "Churches United for Decency" stand for...

* Jerkass Woobie: Alex. He's such an insufferable self-righteous prig that the TraumaCongaLine he endures seems almost like a justifiable BreakTheHaughty. Only after the character has won our sympathy with his troubles do we learn some of the things his "Churches United for Decency" stand for...

--> '''[[spoiler: Odin]]]:''' "My warriors, male and female, dead in honorable combat, are my ''equals,'' not my slaves — I am proud to be first among such equals."

* SelfInflictedHell: Whatever belief structure you believe in is the one you get to experience the afterlife for. So if you're Christian, you'll get heaven/hell/purgatory, if you're Hindu you'll get reincarnated. The Christian main character finds this out the hard way when [[spoiler:he dies and goes to heaven but his wife is not there. So he assumes she's in hell, and only when he's trapped in hell does anyone explain this to him. She's in Valhalla, and since he didn't believe in Valhalla, he can't get there]].

* DevilInDisguise: Subverted when the protagonist finds out that the only friend he and his wife made through their ordeal was actually the devil himself. Not only had he shown him genuine mercy and friendship, he had turned down the bet with God, thinking it sick and cruel.

* GodIsEvil: [[spoiler:Both {{God}} and {{Satan}} are revealed to be equal players in a [[CelestialBureaucracy much greater game]], several ranks below the ''true'' Supreme Being, and God is the jerk of the two, who insists on worship and relies upon inconsistent and unkind rules to rein in his creations.]]
* GodKartingWithBeelzebub: [[spoiler: God and Satan are actually brothers and part of an entire race of divine beings. Earth is something akin to a school project that Satan was helping his brother on. But God went on a power trip and rewrote all the rules, making his brother the evil force in his universe and demanding complete loyalty from creatures he had designed to be anything but obedient. He specifically wrote out the apocalyptic prophesy to make his brother look like a jerk and come out a hero for his own ego boost. Satan, quite flatly, tells the protagonist that he isn't going to attend the end of days to deprive his brother of the satisfaction.]]
* AHellOfATime: God created Hell to be a bad place, but then Satan took over and turned it relatively nice. It's notable that the story features a God Is Evil plot that is itself subverted by revealing that God and Satan "take turns" playing the Good and Evil deity role and they're merely junior members of a vast CelestialBureaucracy.
* Jerkass Woobie: Alex. He's such an insufferable self-righteous prig that the TraumaCongaLine he endures seems almost like a justifiable BreakTheHaughty.
* JesusWasWayCool: The story paints God as a jerkass, Satan as vaguely benevolent and both as mere peons before ''real'' deities, who run some sort of creation business. But Jesus and Saint Peter are both good guys.

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: When the ''second'' Mazatlan earthquake hits. [[spoiler: And if it had been a fair test, Loki should have won hands-down at that point. But apparently Loki was having too much fun to declare GameOver, and {{God}} does not like to lose. So the MindScrew continues until it attracts the attention of {{Satan}}.]]