The Theme Of Money In Walter Mosley's Devil In A Blue Dress

In Walter Mosley’s novel Devil in a Blue Dress written in 1948, the influence of money acts as a major theme in the novel. Mosley uses Easy Rawlins, an African American man as the protagonist of the novel. The novel is a representation of multiple inequalities between race and power. The plot begins in the novel when Easy loses his job causing him to do anything in order to earn money and make mortgage payments. His life is seen to exhibit some form of transformation; Easy was able to transform from being a laborer to a detective. With each of Mosley’s main characters captivated by money and power; the American dream, the plot is affected. There are various instances of crime in the novel and crime rises as a consequence of money.

The American

She is perceived as being so romantic and a member of the high class. Mr. Albright, a character in the novel who had much money engaged in any activity provided is offered money without considering its effects. “Wherever they 's a little money to be made Mr. Albright got his nose to the ground, An ' he don 't care too much if that money got a little smudge or sumpin ' on it neither”, Joppy says (Mosley, 20). Finding Daphne means finding money, which is why Mr. Albright hires Easy and gives him the task to search for clues on Daphne and find her. Easy accepts the offer as his desire is to continue having ownership of his house. Easy later discovers that he is not the only one searching for Daphne. For instance, Todd Carter, a character in the novel who is a wealthy, white man loves Daphne. Despite the fact that Daphne stole thirty thousand dollars from him, he still wants her back, which is why he hires Mr. Albright to find her. Mr. Albright, however, desires to seek the money to gain for himself more than he wants to do his job and find

Easy believes that they have no right to arrest him unless there is evidence that he has committed a crime. Regardless, the police arrest him. Taken to the police station, he is beaten but soon he is free. “Through the adventures and the ambivalence of the black detective, Devil in a Blue Dress enacts a Foucauldian structure which teaches that power, like law, is not an order to be retrieved but the contingent result of specific circumstances that black men may understand through violence and adapt to their own needs for respect and freedom”, says Marilyn Wesley in her article (Power and Knowledge in Walter Mosley 's Devil in a Blue Dress, 104). Indeed, blacks treated unjustly with police brutality alone is one of the reasons why Easy decides to work on the case as a private investigator rather than seeking the help of the police. Hence, the characters in the novel believe that the only way to be respected and solve issues is through violence. Overall, with his pride in owning a home and staying away from places with white people, race controls the actions of