The Devil In A Blue Dress Sparknotes

The Real Devil
The book Devil in a Blue Dress is written by Walter Mosley. There are lots of devils who appear in the story. Albright, Mouse, Carter, Easy and Daphne are devils without any questions because actions like hustling, and killing people show that they aren’t good people. From the story, we may easily conclude all characters are devils, but we should always think about who makes them commit illegal actions. When they were children, none of them thought about doing any illegal jobs. All of them wanted to be good guys. The real devil is the one that led them against the law. Who is that devil? It is money. Money connects the entire story, and it makes poor people want to do illegal things to make easy money. On the other hand, it

also gives rich people the right to hustle poor people. Money lets people forget the law, do dangerous things and kill someone else, and it lets rich people want to hustle poor people, so money is a devil in Devil in a Blue Dress.

First of all, money lets people forget the law. As long as people can make more money, no one will be scared of the law. The law was created by people, which means it is changeable. The fact is rich people have power to change the law, so the right always belongs to rich people. Money convinces Albright that being a lawyer isn’t a good way to earn lots of money. He finds out that Daphne has lots of money, and he wants to take Daphne’s money. He decides to hustle Easy to help him get what he wants because Easy is a soldier, and he needs money to pay his mortgage. In Devil in a Blue Dress, Albright says, “I used to be a lawyer when I lived in Georgia. But now I’m just another fella who does favors for friends, and for friends of friends.”(Mosley, 49) We can easily see that Albright gives Easy the idea that he knows the law, which means he wouldn’t do anything against the law, but it isn’t the true for Albright. Albright wants to hustle Easy and deceives Easy about what he

offers him. After Easy finishes his job, he earns 100 dollars from Albright and thinks about stopping to do anything for Albright. After he takes the money, Albright starts to show his real face to Easy. Albright lets him continue to work for him because Easy belongs to Albright after he takes money. In a conversation between Easy and Albright, “Easy says, ‘you don’t think I did my job? Shit, I give you the money back.’ Albright says, ‘Too late for that, Mr. Rawlins. You take my money and you belong to me.’ Easy says, ‘I don’t belong to anybody.’ Albright says, ‘We all owe out something, Easy. When you owe out then you’re in debt and when you’re in debt then you can’t be your own man. That’s capitalism.’”(Mosley, 148) As we compare Albright to Easy, Albright is a rich person who words are the law. No matter how Easy wants to argue with Albright, he has to work for Albright. Easy forgets the law because he can’t stay away from trouble anymore. Money lets him forget the law.
Second, money lets people do dangerous things. None of us want to do dangerous things because life is important. In the world, it is one life per person which means all of us want to live in safety. No matter how much you earn. If you die, you lose all your money. It’s the rule of the world. When money is more important than lives, people can do dangerous things to make money. In Devil in a Blue Dress, Easy has a feeling about Albright won’t give him an easy job since Albright pays Easy 100 dollars which is a lot for Easy. Easy thinks, “I should have gotten up and walked out of there, but he was right about my mortgage. He was right about the banks too.”(Mosley, 49) Easy should have left and gotten away from trouble which would send him into danger. Easy doesn’t leave because he can’t live without money. He needs to pay his mortgage. Otherwise, banks will take his home. If Easy has enough money, he must leave and stay away from Albright since 100 dollars won’t be easy to earn. Money lets him do dangerous things.
Third, money lets people kill others.

When money is more important than other people’s lives, people may kill those people and take those people’s money. In the story, Easy wants to stay away from Mouse because Mouse is a dangerous person. He kills his stepfather to have enough money for wedding. According to Devil in a Blue Dress, Walter Mosley says, “He said that he was going to ask his stepfather for an inheritance his mother had promised him before she died. Before we left that town Mouse’s stepfather and a young man named Clifton had been shot dead. When I drove Mouse back to Huston he had more than a thousand dollars in his pocket.” (93) From the quote we can find out that one thousand dollars has greater value than two people’s lives. What is Mouse looking for? Mouse is looking for money. It is worth for Mouse to kill two people included his stepfather for money. Sometimes money is important than people’s lives. People may kill those guys and take money from them. Money lets Mouse kill two

people.
Finally, money gives power to rich people. The more money you earn, the more power you have. Only rich people can do whatever they want. Carter is one of rich people in Devil in a Blue Dress. He can do whatever he wants, and he doesn’t believe that Albright can do anything against him. In a conversation between Carter and Easy, “Carter says, ‘will you find her for me? I’ll give you a thousand dollars.’ Easy says, ‘What about Albright?’ Carter says, ‘I’ll tell my associates to fire him. He won’t go against us.’” (Mosley, 166) As we compare Albright with Carter, Carter has a lot more money than Albright. Carter can kill Albright if he wants because poor people are controlled by rich people. The difference between poor people and rich people is the amount of money. When you have a lot of money, you can become one of rich people. Money gives Carter power to hustle or kill Albright.
People may say that money is a good thing because money lets Easy own his house, and it also gives Easy love. However, nothing is free. Money gives Easy love, but Easy needs to do something that he doesn’t want to do to pay for love. As long as he owns his house, he has to earn enough money for the bill. Love isn’t more important than life. For Easy, doing dangerous things is the only way to make money because he gets fired.
Money is the real devil in Devil in a Blue Dress since it lets people do bad things. It lets lots of people die. It also lets the law become nothing for people. For rich people, they are the law. For poor people, they don’t have chances to follow the law because they have to live, which means they needs enough money to pay for their lives. If they follow the law, they will not have enough money to pay for their lives. They have to earn money by doing illegal jobs, even though those jobs may cost their lives. Money is the same as life for them. Money is a devil. It complicates the law. It lets society get worse and worse. It is why many people do illegal jobs like stealing and selling drugs, and some of them do dangerous things to make money; furthermore, some of them kill people for money. Don’t let money control your life because it leads you to die. Don’t let money affect your judgments. It will send you into dangerous situation. You can earn money after you spend all of your money, but you can’t have extra life times after you die.