Samuel

Samuel is one of Billy Milligan’s inner selves, distinguished by Orthodox Jewish faith, artistic practice, and the conviction that he alone among the group believes in God. His story gives those convictions practical weight: he prays for Billy’s Jewish father, observes Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and ultimately faces banishment after selling paintings that other personalities regarded as private. The dispute places religious belief, personal property, and Arthur’s authority in direct conflict.

Identity and Place in the Inner Group

Samuel is eighteen and is described as the only member of the inner group who believes in God. He is Orthodox in his religion, reads the Old Testament, eats kosher food, and is a sculptor and wood-carver. His black curly hair and beard are among the few physical details supplied about him. These particulars establish him not simply as a believer in principle but as someone whose religious commitments organize daily practice and artistic life.

The distinction between Samuel and the group around him is made explicit when Ragen mocks him and says there is no God. Samuel’s belief does not make him the group’s governing authority: Arthur sets internal rules and controls access to the spot, while Samuel must argue for the place of his faith within that system. His position is therefore both singular and vulnerable. He holds to a religious view that others contest, but his ability to act depends on decisions made by another inner self.

Faith in Florida

While Billy was staying in Miami, Samuel learned that Billy’s father had been Jewish. The news connected Samuel’s religious identity to Billy’s family history. In the aftermath of the killing of eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Village, Samuel was outraged. He attended Friday-night services to pray for the athletes and for Billy’s father, and he asked God to have the court find Allen innocent.

That episode places prayer beside the practical pressures of Billy’s legal situation. Samuel’s appeal to God includes both remembrance of the dead and a request concerning the court’s decision. The book also records that Allen attended school, did well, and worked at a paint-supply store in Florida. Samuel’s prayer for Allen’s innocence occurs within that period, joining religious concern to the family’s immediate uncertainty without suggesting that his prayer determines the legal outcome.

Religious Practice and the Paintings

Samuel’s observance also appears in a private ritual within the inner group. On September 27, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, he took the spot and prayed in memory of Billy’s Jewish father. The date gives the act a defined religious occasion, while the use of the spot shows that worship takes place within the group’s shared and contested internal arrangements.

A later financial need led Samuel to violate Arthur’s rule against selling paintings. No one from the family was present to advise him or explain what was happening, and he sold a nude painting signed by Allen. The image offended Samuel’s religious sensibilities, and he did not want it where he could see it. He also sold a painting of a barn by Tommy, a work associated with fear. These were not interchangeable possessions: the paintings carried personal significance for their makers, even though Samuel acted without guidance and from his own religious discomfort and need for money.

Arthur responded by ordering Tommy to find Samuel’s favorite work, a plaster Venus surrounded by cupids, and destroy it. Tommy smashed the sculpture with a hammer. Arthur then declared Samuel an undesirable and banished him from the spot for selling art that belonged, in the group’s understanding, to others. The punishment turned a disagreement over paintings into a loss of access to the inner group’s central place of control and action.

Ban and Reconsideration

Samuel argued against the banishment on religious grounds. He pointed to his standing as the only believer and reasoned that believing in God might prove valuable if God existed after all. Arthur answered that belief arose from fear of the unknown and questioned whether there was a soul. Samuel’s reply framed faith as a hedge against uncertainty: allowing one member to believe would cost the others little, while leaving open the possibility of salvation. The exchange records disagreement rather than resolution; Arthur’s skepticism remained, and Samuel’s case did not immediately reverse the punishment.

Arthur permitted Samuel to take the spot on October 6, Yom Kippur, to fast on the Day of Atonement, but said that he would then be banished. The concession gave Samuel a specific opportunity to observe his holiest day without removing the broader sanction. Later, Arthur admitted to Tommy that anger had made his judgment hasty. Since he could not know for certain that God did not exist, he recognized that he should not have banished the only believer so quickly. Tommy suggested that Arthur could change the rule and let Samuel take the spot sometimes. The evidence records that suggestion, not a confirmed reinstatement.

Narrative Significance

Samuel’s episodes reveal how inner governance reaches into ordinary acts: religious observance requires access to the spot, while selling a painting brings a severe collective penalty. The paintings make the rule concrete. Samuel’s sale of Allen’s nude reflects his discomfort with the image, but selling Tommy’s barn painting also disregards another personality’s attachment to a work associated with fear. Arthur’s response, in turn, shows that enforcing a rule can injure someone whose distinct beliefs the group otherwise has reason to preserve.

The dispute ends with a measure of uncertainty rather than a settled solution. Arthur recognizes that his certainty about God was unwarranted, but the account does not say that he formally restores Samuel’s standing. Tommy’s proposed compromise leaves open the possibility of change. Samuel’s role consequently exposes both the force of Arthur’s authority and its limits: a rule can banish a believer, but it cannot settle the question on which that believer’s case depends.