The Mysterious Stranger

In The Mysterious Stranger, a sleepy Austrian village is visited by Satan, an angel who is the nephew of the more famous, evil Satan. Satan (acting as a mouthpiece for Twain) objectively points out how the human race is defined by fear, lies, betrayal, suspicion, and cowardice. Twain presents us with the burning of an innocent woman as a witch, the abandonment of a kind family by their friends, and a drunkard beating his loyal dog until the poor animal's eye is smashed out. Towards the end, Satan has this bombshell: he doesn't exist, and neither does God--how could there be a greater power when humanity is as sickening and loathsome as it is?