Just a quick question . . . In “Descent into Hell” there are two major parts in which the death of “a God” or “a god” is mentioned. What I am questioning is why God/god is capitalized in one of these parts, but not in the other. Is there a reason or purpose for this apparent discrepancy, or is it simply an error?

The first section to which I am referring is located in the last few sentences of chapter seven: “The groan was at once dereliction of power and creation of power. In it, far off, . . . a god, unamenable to death, awhile endured and died” (pg. 125 in my edition; italics added). This cry is mentioned as being heard by Margaret, the “dead man,” and Pauline.

The other is in chapter ten, in which Pauline thinks of how “the moan of a God had carried the moan of the dead” (chapter ten, pg. 181; italics also added).

I was wondering if, aside from the obvious possibility that this might be a publishing error, Williams might have actually used the capitalization on purpose for some reason. Could it, in some way, be reflecting something of the characters' beliefs (or lack thereof)? Or, more specifically, may it show something of Pauline's own growth from chapter seven to ten? In seven, Pauline had yet to fully accept certain aspects of the “doctrine of substitution” (namely that she must take someone else's fear), among other things. By ten, she has met her doppleganger and has immersed herself into her role in the play . . .

But, the question remains, if Williams is referring to the God, YWH, in these sections, why would he mention this by using the phrase “a God,” as if God is just another god and there might be other gods? (i.e. Why “a” and not “the”?)

A publishing error, or not?

(That actually did not turn out as “quick” as I had originally intended it to be . . .)