Alexander Pope's “An Essay on Man” is an attempt to vindicate, as Milton had attempted to justify, the ways of God to man. Both attempt to explain God to man, but come up with different conclusions. Milton states that man can overcome God's design through faith and decency. In contrast, Pope remarks that man must accept what life gives him without trying to change his fate. Milton seeks to "justify the ways of God to …showed first 75 words of 424 total…

…showed last 75 words of 424 total…which we can, lead happy and virtuous lives. Both Milton and Pope try to defend the ways of God to man, but in different ways. Milton shows, through Adam and Eve, that man will suffer and experience pain while on earth, but they must overcome that suffering and remain good in all doing. Pope, on the other hand, realizes that there is pain and suffering but says that man must accept this and move on.