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

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

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