Today, I watched the episode "His Red Right Hand" as a refresher for Red John clues, and, quite accidentally, I came across some interesting literature references for the phrase "red right hand." Hear me out. This is quite interesting. In John Milton's great poem "Paradise Lost", the phrase is mentioned in these lines:
"What if the breath that kindled those grim fires,
Awaked, should blow them into sevenfold rage,
And plunge us in the flames; or from above
Should intermitted vengeance arm again
His red right hand to plague us?"
In the Bible, the mark of the beast, is placed upon the right hand (or forehead), and so the red right hand (in Milton's poem) might mark the Antichrist and his followers. Or in this case, Red John and his disciples. As we saw the mark of the beast in "The Desert Rose" these things might be connected somehow. The "red right hand" might just be a metaphorical thing for Red John and/or his disciples, or it could be related to the next episode
"The Red Tattoo."
I don't know these things for sure, but I find the connections interesting. Strangely, there is also a song called "Song of Joy" which references John Milton's poem and states of a murderer:
"It seems he has done many, many more,
quotes John Milton on the walls in the victim's blood.
The police are investigating at tremendous cost.
In my house he wrote 'his red right hand'.
That, I'm told, is from Paradise Lost."
Anyway, I don't know if all of these connections are intentional or coincidental, but I thought it was interesting. What do you guys think? Could Heller have done this on purpose? Especially since we already know about the "Tyger, Tyger" poem and the William Blake connection.
