Essay Comparing The Devil And Daniel Webster

In Stephen Benet's fictional story "The Devil and Daniel Webster," the social values that are being taught are that you should never cheat your way to the top and that America was built on good and evil, which I believe are presented by the author through the setting, the character's and the actions of the characters. The first value taught in the story was to never cheat your way to the top. This value deals with human choice because it gives the reader an understanding on that you have a choice on how to be successful in something but, it all depends on what you do to get you there. You can choose the easy way, by cutting deals and cheating your way to the top or you can do it the hard way by labor and honesty. In "The Devil and Daniel Webster,"

Jabez makes a deal with the devil and it was nice at first, but as soon as he knows his happiness will come to an end, he sees the wrong choice he made. "Miserable wretch that I am, groaned Jabez Stone I've brought you a devilish way, and now I see my folly." The second value, which isn't fully revealed until about the end of the story has to do with Americanism. In part 3, when the devil is accused of being a foreigner, he says: "When the first wrong was done to the first Indian, I was there, when the first slaver put out for the Congo, I stood on her deck, am I not in your books and stories and beliefs, from the first settlements on, am I not spoken of, still, in every church in New England 'tis true the North claims me for a Southerner, and the South for a Northerner, but I am neither I am merely an honest American like yourself--and of the best descent--for, to tell the truth, Mr. Webster, though I don't like to boast of it, my name is older in this country than yours." The value that America is built on good and evil deals with Americanism because this value is what makes up America and what America's existence is based upon.

Washington Irving's fictional story "The Devil and Tom Walker," and Benet's fictional story "The Devil and Daniel Webster," are very similar in the way they both teach one lesson.

Both stories focus on the lesson to never "sell your soul" for riches because in the end it will all come back to you. In "The Devil and Tom Walker," Tom wants nothing more than riches and will do anything to get it. "He had a wife as miserly as himself: they were so miserly that they even conspired to cheat each other." Tom sells his soul to the devil as an exchange for wealth but in the end, the devil comes for him and he dies a miserable death. In Stephen Benet's fictional story "The Devil and Daniel Webster," Jabez Stone is a farmer who is in desperate need of money, so he sells his soul to the devil who, just like in "The Devil and Tom Walker," later comes back to try to get him. In Part 3 of Stephen Benet's "The Devil and Daniel Webster," the devil who has come to take Jabez says: "And now, said the stranger, smiling and showing his teeth, I shall call upon you, as a law-abiding citizen, to assist me in taking possession of my property." Another similarity the stories share is the same antagonist. In both stories, the character who plays the antagonist is the devil. It is the devil, who at the beginning helps the main characters of the two stories in getting what they wished for but later reveals himself as the enemy by taking/trying to take their souls

away.

Although the two stories share a lot of similarities, they also have significant differences as well.

For example, in Washington Irving's fictional story "The Devil and Tom Walker," the story is set to a European society while Stephen Benet's fictional story "The Devil and Daniel Webster," is set to an American one. On page 243, Irving writes: "About the year 1727, just at the time that earthquakes were prevalent in New England, and shook many tall sinners down upon their knees, there lived near this place a meager, miserly fellow, of the name of Tom Walker." In Benet's story the author introduces the setting with: "There was a man named Jabez Stone, lived at Cross Corners, New Hampshire. The stories also differ in the way of how they end. In "The Devil and Tom Walker," Tom Walker is taken away by the devil and dies. "Two skeletons lay in his stable instead of his half-starved horses, and the very next day his great house took fire and burnt to the ground." Unlike in Irving's story, the ending of Stephen Benet's story "The Devil and Daniel Webster," ends with the devil being defeated by Daniel Webster and he is not able to collect the soul of the person he made the bargain with which, in this case was Jabez Stone and he gets to continue on with his life. "And now, said Dan'l Webster, seeing Jabez Stone beginning to rouse from his swoon, let's see what's left in the jug, for it's dry work talking all night I hope there's pie for breakfast, Neighbor

Stone."

Overall, both stories were similar in the way that they both taught the same lesson. They differed because of different factors the authors incorporated into the story such as, where the story took place and how the story ended. Although they have multiple similarities and differences, both authors were able to successfully tell the reader about the social values and other morals that were applied into the society through the characters, the character's actions, and the setting.