Loss of Purpose

Life is Hamlet's serpent, gnawing at his soul; with each breath Hamlet plummets further into despondency, shielding his only light source. The loss of a father is monumental to most men, but to Hamlet, who had such an intimate relationship with his father, and who has rejected all surrounding women as whores, this lose is disastrous. The world is his prison, keeping him from death; had suicide not been deemed a sin by the Christian religion, Hamlet would have gladly taken his own life.
Ironically, Hamlet's father, who in a way unintentionally deprived Hamlet of his life, gives Hamlet another reason to live. The father asks his son to revenge his murder, by killing Claudius; however, this poses a problem for Hamlet, a devout Christian. Praying for God's protection, when the Ghost enters, Hamlet does not take the ghost's request without suspicion of its intentions; however, his heart is so weighed down by his lose and self-pity that he needs to find a purpose. Ultimately, acknowledging the Ghost as his true father, he accepts this task whole-heartidly. I think that the Ghost is an interesting character in that he, residing in purgatory, represents this abeyance between life and death much like his own son. King Hamlet is religious, speaking of earthly sins and God's wrathful judgment; however, he is also self-serving, asking his son to revenge his death. He is the embodiment of something between the holy ghost and man. Hamlet's promise to erase the contents of his life's book, and replace them with this new task is in essence a rejection of religion. But can he be held accountable for his hiatus from faith, when his mind is so darken with misery, that he can barely function? If his father's request presents Hamlet with even a brief diversion from the hell that is his own mind, I for one can not condemn him.
I think that some readers are quick to group his depression and genius together and label it as insanity. Hamlet is grief-stricken, and in order to relieve himself of this illness, he finds a cure, as most people would do. This cure, however, happens to be avenging the death of his father, through the murder of his uncle, the king. In order compete ambitious task, I do not think that killing a king is an easy feat, he feigns insanity, tricking the surrounding characters and even some readers. His emotions and outward appearance are completely different entities in Hamlet's case. I do not think that it is coincidental that Hamlet compares his mind to a book, saying he will erase all of its contents, and then, the next time he appears he is holding a book, about all the reasons why old men are flawed. His melancholia and willingness to depart from his physical body does not wholly disable his mind. It may cloud it and rid himself of self-control in his action towards himself, but it does not take away his ability to rationalize. Actually, I think the fact that he is still functioning is a testament to his sanity,
Hamlet's intermission from his faith, does not condemn him to hell; he tries to heal by not ignoring the pain, finding revenge to be his medicine, a remedy stopping him from committing the sin he is destined to commit. It's one evil or the other. His eternal turmoil has not caused him to lose faith completely, and any flicker of belief he retained during these impossible times is a tribute to its strength. The world in which Hamlet resides is corrupt, Shakespeare placed him in an environment, which he is the saint. The only sin Hamlet is guilty of is being human.