Variation Of A Faustian Tale In The Devil And Homer Simpson

It is inevitable that people wish for things that they do not have. The Devil sometimes tries to use this propensity to tempt people to sin and follow him instead of God. The classic idea of a “deal with the devil” has been the premise for many stories since the late sixteenth century. Many of these stories are similar but also have their own twist on the concept. Faust, part I by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, and “The Devil and Homer Simpson” by Greg Daniels and Dan McGrath are all a variation of a Faustian Tale, but they each convey different ideas. These Faustian tales have similarities and differences which convey their own message through portrayal of characters, outcomes and plots, and styles

of writing.
Each character in every story is portrayed differently. In Goethe’s Faust, part I, the main character, Faust, is a very erudite, upper class man, but he is unsatisfied with his life filled “with many woes,” because he wants to be like God, and he wants to achieve happiness(61). In “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Irving, the main character, Tom, is a greedy, “miserly fellow”, who has an unhappy life and “a wife as miserly as himself”(124). He wants to be wealthy, so he becomes a cruel usurer for the Devil. In “The Devil and Homer Simpson,” the main character, Homer, is clueless and rash, and all he wants is donuts. All of these Faust characters are very different, but they have one thing in common: they all want something that they do not have. This is where the Devil comes in, and each story has its own version of it. Faust, part I has a demon named Mephistopheles, disguised as a human, who is very manipulative, flattering, and clever. In “The Devil and Tom Walker,” the Devil is a Native American character who is creepy, powerful, and deceptive.The Devil in “The Devil and Homer Simpson” is one of the characters from the show who appears as the Devil, but he is not very smart or powerful, and he is straightforward. All of the Devil characters appear humanlike which makes them not too intimidating for the Faust main character to even interact with them. Even though Goethe portrays the Devil character as manipulative, which makes the reader almost feel bad for Faust, Faust is still stubborn and wants to be a god, which makes the reader less compassionate toward him when he is not saved and gets taken to hell in the end. These portrayals help convey Goethe’s message that people should think things through before doing them, and true happiness cannot be reached by achieving great worldly things. One should take pleasure in the little things and accept the life that he or she has. Through Irving’s portrayal of the Faust character and the Devil character he conveys the message that a person should not be mean and do evil to get what he or she wants, because the Devil is more evil, and he wants people to do evil and not good. The episode of “The Simpsons” portrays characters as silly mostly for entertainment, but it also conveys the message that people should think of the consequences before they do something. Each writer uses different characters in their own way to show the audience a moral, but they also do this through the plot of each story.
Every story has its own plot, which therefore creates a different outcome.

In Faust, part I, Faust is given Mephistopheles as his servant on earth, until he reaches complete happiness, “[t]hen [Faust will] do the same for [him]” in hell(87). Faust never reaches complete happiness in the end and eventually goes to heaven. The deal in “The Devil and Tom Walker” is that Tom gets a pirate’s treasure and a multitude of wealth, but he has to use the money for evil, and the Devil gets his soul. In the end, after he had a lot of evil over his life, he accidentally said, “‘The devil take me,’” without meaning it, and was taken to hell(135). In “The Devil and Homer Simpson,” Homer gets a donut, but “the instant [he] finish[es] it [the Devil] own[s his] soul”(Daniels, McGrath). Homer inevitably eats the donut, but he gets to go on trial for his soul, and his wife, Marge, saves his soul by saying he already promised it to her. In all of these stories, a physical contract was made with the devil, so it seems like the Faust character could not get out of it, but the deal is different for each story, and each one has a different outcome to portray a different message. Goethe conveys that complete happiness cannot be reached, but that it is never too late to be saved. “The Devil and Tom Walker” conveys that it is harmful to try to get a desired thing through evil means by making Tom go to hell in the end after all the evil he had done. In “The Devil and Homer Simpson,” Homer finding a

way out in the end was used mostly to keep the mood happy and fun, but also conveys that hell is not that serious, and people can outsmart problems and get themselves out of situations. Another way that these writers convey their messages is through their tone and style of writing.
Each author tells the story in a different style than the others and uses that tone to tell their audience something specific.

Faust, part I is a play written in poetic verse in mostly iambic tetrameter and is based on the showing of emotions. Goethe wrote this in the period of Romanticism, which was all about emotions and feelings. The characters in the story express their thoughts and feelings through speech. The whole story is written so the audience can see the emotions of the characters and also feel emotions for themselves, which would therefore make them more accepting of his message. “The Devil and Tom Walker” is a short story written to almost sound like a legend. Washington Irving wrote this in the time of American Romanticism, and he wrote it to make the readers feel fearful but also have a certain respect for the seriousness of temptation. These feelings led the readers to learn from the story and have more prudence in making decisions. “Homer Sells His Soul” is part of an episode of the comedic cartoon “The Simpsons.” The whole tone and mood of the show is not serious and is only meant to entertain. Most of the characters are incompetent, and many stereotypes of hell are used in the episode. Even though the tone is comedic to entertain, it still conveys the theme that people should think about the consequences before acting on something. Each author uses their own tone to convey different messages, but the messages are somewhat the same: think things through

before making a decision.
Characters, plot, and style are some ways that authors put a unique twist on the Faustian Tale, which makes them different but similar, each conveying its own message. Characters portrayed in different ways makes the audience have a certain view of them, which can make them understand a theme in the story. The plot of each story makes the audience’s minds go through different adventures, which makes them feel a certain way about the topic or theme. The style of the story most directly affects how the audience feels about the story and makes them hear the ideas of the author, which is the main goal. Though each story is different, the main goal of every Faustian Tale is to convey to the audience that it is a bad idea to make a deal with the Devil, and ultimately that people should think of the consequences before making a life changing decision.