In the following excerpt, Campbell describes the ways Leon, Archie, and Emile personify evil.
How does the theme of this book fit into Cormier's fascination for the nature of human confrontation with the implacable? All of the three villains are vulnerable, and if they cannot quite be placated, they can at least be manipulated. They are quick to see each other's weaknesses and quick to take advantage of them for more secure positions of power. Leon has put himself in a shaky place by his overreaching ambition, and Archie sees him "riddled with cracks and crevices-running scared-open to invasion." Archie fears Leon's power over him as his teacher, and his domination of the Vigils is dependent on thinking up ever more imaginative assignments. And then there is the black box-a nemesis over which he has.....
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