In recent years, popular tales of the Devil in our culture derive from heartfelt stories of man’s victory over evil, and justice being served. The story of The Devil and Daniel Webster, by Stephen Vincent Bénet is a beacon of inspiration for countless retellings on different platforms of evil, not just that of the Devil. For example, the familiar recounting in The Simpson when Homer sells his soul to the Devil for one of his favorites pleasures, the strawberry, frosted, sprinkled donut; while performing the roleplay of Jabez Stone. Or a more subtle reference in one or two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which they have Captain Picard is taken to trial on behalf of mankind, a representative for Humanities crimes, playing the …show more content…
role that of similarity to the one and only Daniel Webster. Since its publishing in 1937, the story made it’s way around pop culture in several other instances, but the conceptual ideas behind this story that were also borrowed in a variety of ways from it’s predecessors is very important to understand the message of the fiction at hand.
The Devil and Daniel Webster uses the folktale genre, patriotic context to express issues in traditional stories of Satan, such as the ones we explored in class, from a different angles to create an allegory of the lawful inner workings of the Christian system on the omnipotent level.
Jabez Stone’s misfortune begins this tale, as the farm owner in New Hampshire attempted to cling to his every last hopes of his crop’s prospering. In moment of despair he spoke and said, "I vow it's enough to make a man want to sell his soul to the devil. And I would, too, for two cents.” After he spoke, he felt an uneasiness come over him, but did not take it
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back.
The next day a dark-dressed man came to visit Jabez, and knowing well this man, although he claimed to his family was a lawyer, was in fact the Devil; come to make a bargain for his soul for seven years of thriving on his property. Jabez soon after began prosper with his livestock and crops becoming healthy, but after six years he began to have regrets. He faced the Devil, and told him of his doubts due to him being american, and always a religious man. The devil agrees, and confesses his own doubts in the agreement holding up in court. In the end,Jabez was able to bargain up a three year extension on his contract. Finally, in the midst of his last days, Jabez decided to seek out a man named Daniel Webster, the Devil had briefly mentioned in their previous encounter, who would have needed “special” measures if he was ever to be contained by the Devil. As so happens, Daniel Webster was also a man living in New Hampshire, working as a lawyer taking cases presented to the Supreme Court, aspiring to be the president of the United States. After hearing Jabez situation, Daniel accepted Jabez’s case, and together they hurried back to the farm where the Devil was due at midnight after the last day. At the stroke of twelve,
the Devil appeared at the door presenting himself as Mr. Scratch, Daniel welcomed him in, offered him a drink, and began their argument. Daniel argued that no matter how much the Devil pressed the law against him, he would not allow his client to “be forced into the service of a foreign prince.” Mr. Scratch then asserts his American citizenship. With this Daniel demands to uphold the Constitution, and claims Jabez’s right to trial. Giving the choice of jury and judge to the Devil, as long as they were American. The case goes on one sided, beginning to annoy Daniel Webster. When the time came for him to give his final address to the jury, he decided against acting in contempt of court, in desperation. He gives a moving speech, not specified in dialogue, but through poetic prose. The verdict is after given, and Jabez Stone is found to not be held by the bounds of the contract, due to the sympathy of the jury. Daniel then rips up the contract, grabs a hold of the Mr. Scratch’s arm, and forcibly makes him draw up a new contract promising to leave Jabez, and the rest of New Hampshire until doomsday arrived. However Daniel does not yet feel satisfied, which is when Mr. Scratch begins to plead for him to let him go. They then settle a deal, in exchange for Daniel’s fortune telling. The devil then after disappears, not to be seen again in the state of New Hampshire. In order to efficiently evaluate the idea that the author is putting across, it is very important to recognize the style in which story is created, and how much influence is taken from it’s sources. The Devil and Daniel Webster is a story based on the short story The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving; a gruesome story involving the Devil, and greed. Washington Irving’s recounting of the legend surrounding Faust involves a devil by the name Old Scratch, who makes a deal with the so called Tom Walker, to give him a pirate’s treasure who he had previously inherited in a previous bargain for a soul. Bénet borrowed the name “Scratch” for his own Satan, however unlike its source’s Old Scratch, Mr. Scratch is unsuccessful with his temptation. Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, an earlier work based on the original Faust legend, displayed not the devil personally, but Mephistopheles in sorts the middle man in soul bargains. Nonetheless, the distinctions between these stories assist the effect of the folktale, despite its indirect connection. The author chose the ongoing theme of patriotism to interpret the Christian law. In this case it would not make sense for the devil to be made the all governor of the United States, and win in the end; because the patriotism would be lost. Instead, Bénet decides to switch up the roles. He makes the other partner in the bargain, in this case Jabez Stone, a true Christian, unlike Doctor Faustus, go head to head with the Devil; meaning Mr. Scratch had no real chance of winning this battle. Mr. Scratch is also the complete opposite of Mephistopheles. Mephistopheles is much more aggressive with his approach to his client. By being with Faustus every waking second, he is able to manipulate experience, and creates an illusion of no worry for Faustus, which gives him no chance of redemption. On the other hand, Jabez Stone is constantly alone in thought of what he has done, and his nature of being religious allows him to view reality clearly. Mr. Scratch has limited power, compared to Mephistopheles, therefore you can deduct that the person’s loyalty to God, equates how limited, the pertaining devil, is by Christian law. Bénet makes it work perfectly to make the audience feel pride in knowing that the American side has won the battle against the devil, because it's justice in accordance to American law; or the underlying message, justice due to the power of holy law.
On the contrary, the turning points to both the stories are a little different from one another because Tom loses to the devil and the devil took him away. On the other hand, Jabes Won with the help of the lawyer named Daniel Webster against his opponent and the devil was banished also to never come near Jabez and his family ever again. Furthermore, “The Devil and Tom Walker” illustrate that the devil is dark-skinned, red eyes, red sash and with an axe, while “The Devil and Daniel Webster”, the devil actually looked decent , with nice suit and gentlemen.
In “The Devil and Tom Walker,” written by Washington Irving’s, Tom Walker gives his soul to the devil for greediest. For example, in the story, it was said, “He accumulated bonds and mortgages, gradually squeezed his customers closer and closer and sent them at length, dry as a sponge, from his door.” This shows how greedy and selfish he was for not caring about what anyone else feels,
(p. 44); "Who came to you with the devil?" and ".perhaps another person in the village?" (p. 45). A few of his faults are that he judges too much by appearances, ".you look as such a good soul should" (p. 37); ".a claim so weighty cannot be argued by a farmer," (p. 99); and he uses people to question other people.
Both “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” are exemplary specimens of Faustian myths, and as such have very many similarities and concurrences. But, they also emphasize different aspects of the characters and their respective personalities. These two commendable stories serve as excellent chronicles of literature and as worthy examples of moral lessons for all ages.
"About the year 1727, just at the time when 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." (Irving) “The Devil and Tom Walker” is a short story written by Washington Irving in about 1824. The story is about a man who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for Pirate Kidd’s hidden treasure. The man, named Tom Walker, is a greedy, selfish man who thinks money is more important than his wife. “The Devil and Tom Walker” is the best short story example of Romanticism. The story uses escapism, nature as a form of spirituality, and imagination, which are all tenets of Romanticism.
The theme of give your soul to the devil is very old. Most of the time someone would do this to get something very valuable to them. But a lot of the time it ends with someone losing all they have or losing someone they love. The characters in “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “Snow White and the Huntsman,” Were convinced to make a deal with “The Devil.”
We see that good vs. evil has been a theme that is ubiquitous in many writings. The story "The Devil and Tom Walker" is a story about a man who lives an immoral life of greed. Walker lives in a wooded area, where it is solemn, and quiet area of New England. Walker runs into the devil and sees that the devil is cutting down someone else's timber.
The Devil and Daniel Webster Movie In the movie and the short story, "The Devil and Daniel Webster", written by Stephen Vincent Benet, there is illustrated the battle between the forces of good and evil. Although the story allows the reader to mentally picture the scenes and the movie does the depicting for the viewer, there are several similarities in each script. Some of these similarities are the way the characters are depicted and the final scene. There are several incongruous scenes between the short story and the way the movie unfolds. The differences are the amount of time that is spent on the character development, also there are some scenes added into the movie such as the harvest dance and the reminder of the contract. There are three main characters in this short story/movie. They are Scratch, Daniel Webster, and Jabez Stone. The actors picked for the roles fit almost perfectly to the descriptions of the characters in the short story. Scratch is described as a " soft-spoken, dark-dressed stranger…white teeth...were filed to a point". As shown in the movie the actor was also a very darkly clad man. He also had a very soft, hypnotic voice and whenever he smiled his teeth were very shiny and pointy. The man described as "the biggest man in the country…when he stood up to speak, stars and stripes came right out of the sky…and when he argued a case, he could turn on the harps of the blessed and the shaking of the earth unde...
The book, The Devil in the White City, takes place during the late nineteenth century. During that time, the total picture of the late nineteenth - century America that emerges from The Devil in the White City is very different than now.
Can you imagine yourself locked up in a room with no doors? Similar to a room with no doors, there is no way out of hell if it was one's destiny. In the short story "The Devil & Tom Walker" by Washington Irving, the main character's fate is hell because of his wrong decisions in life, accepting a deal with the devil for earthly benefits. Irving reinforces his message about not making decisions that may damn your soul with the use of literary elements and figurative language. Wisely, Irving combines characterization, mood and point of view to perpetuate the theme of the story in the reader's mind.
Brown begins the journey believing that his forefathers are innocent, good men, but the devil tells Brown that he has been, "…well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans; and that’s no trifle to say" (Kelly, 192). Brown's forefathers become equated with the devil. The people of the town are also displaced as the devil. The devil tells Brown, "I have a very general acquaintance here in New England. The deacons of many a church have drunk the communion wince with me; the selectmen of divers towns make me their chairman; and a majority of the Great and General Court are firm supporters of my interest, The governor and I, too----But these are state secrets" (Kelly, 192-93).
Irving, Washington. “The Devil and Tom Walker”. Elements of Literature: Fifth Course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2008. 175-185. Print.
The battle between what is right and wrong is a classic struggle that has existed from the beginning of time. The most honorable people face the crossroad of choosing either the angel’s path or the devil’s; one path leads to an honest yet difficult life while the other is an easy and selfish one. Throughout history, women have been portrayed as the reason of Man’s downfall. The male dominated world has created stereotypes to blame females for their defeats due to ignorance. Leo Tolstoy’s “The Devil” explores the dichotomy of the objectification of women as the angel and the devil.
The carving of pumpkins is one of the most important Halloween traditions. Pumpkin carving is founded on the story about “Stingy Jack.” Irish legend states that Stingy Jack invited the Devil for a drink. Of course, Jack did not wish to pay for the drinks. They didn’t call him Stingy Jack for nothing! He played a trick on the Devil and convinced him to turn into a coin so that he may pay for their drinks. When the Devil did this, Jack picked up the coin and placed it in his shirt pocket covering it with a silver cross. The cross prevented the Devil from returning to his normal form. After some time, Jack freed the Devil, with the understanding that the Devil could never claim his soul and would leave Jack in peace for one year. After a year, the Devil returned to Jack...
In addition, Satan contains advanced skills with persuasion and misleading claims. This is easily seen in modern government elections with candidat...