Orwell wrote:
I think the usual explanation is hubris/ambition. Similar to the Tower of Babel incident.
He is ambitious and arrogant enough to ignore the fact that he is going to have to oust from power an omnipotent being??? That seems ridiculous to posit, and the only way I can even see this being justified is if God is somehow unclear, the issue is that this undercuts God's authority there.
No, it really isn't similar. In one case we have a relatively ignorant post-fall humanity, and in the other case we have an extremely knowledgeable pre-fall Satan. Post-fall people are supposed to be filled with evil urges, but a pre-fall angel?? Well... I don't see why they would be different than any other angel, and angels being that they are created for the task of angelry should have angelic desires as well I would think.