The Devil and Daniel Webster
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"The Devil and Daniel Webster" is a short story by Steven Vincent Benét about a New Hampshire farmer who sells his soul to the Devil and is defended by Daniel Webster.
The story was published in 1938 in The Saturday Evening Post and won an O. Henry award that same year. The author would adapt it in 1938 into a folk opera with music by Douglas Stuart Moore. Benét also worked on the screenplay adaptation for the 1941 film.
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[edit] Summary
The story is about a New Hampshire farmer in 1841 with unending bad luck. Jabez Stone swears that "it's enough to make a man want to sell his soul to the devil!" When Satan, disguised as "Mr. Scratch," arrives the next day, the farmer reluctantly makes a bargain for better luck. Mr. Stone enjoys seven years of prosperity, and later bargains for three more years, but as the "mortgage falls due," he convinces famous lawyer and orator Daniel Webster to argue his case with the Devil.
At midnight Mr. Scratch arrived and was greeted by Daniel Webster presenting himself as attorney for Mr. Stone, who was too scared for speech. Mr. Scratch said to Daniel, "I shall call upon you, as a law-abiding citizen, to assist me in taking possession of my property," and so began the argument. It went poorly for Daniel since the signature and the contract were clear, and Mr. Scratch would not agree to a compromise.
In desperation Daniel thundered "Mr. Stone is an American citizen, and no American citizen may be forced into the service of a foreign prince. We fought England for that in '12 and we'll fight all hell for it again!" To this Mr. Scratch insists on his citizenship citing his presence at the worst events of America, concluding that "though I don't like to boast of it, my name is older in this country than yours."
A trial was then demanded by Daniel as the right of every American. Mr. Scratch agreed after Daniel said that he could pick the judge and jury "so it is an American judge and an American jury!" A jury of the damned then entered "with the fires of hell still upon them." They had all done evil, and had all played a part in America:
- Walter Butler a Loyalist
- Simon Girty a Loyalist
- Indian chief Metacomet referred to as "King Philip".
- Governor Thomas Dale
- Thomas Morton a rival of the Plymouth Pilgrims.
- The pirate Edward Teach also known as "Blackbeard".
- Reverend John Smeet {Not otherwise identified}
- Judge John Hathorne entered last. He had presided at the Salem witch trials.
The trial went against Daniel in every unfair way. Finally he was on his feet ready to rage, without care for himself or Mr. Stone. Before speaking he saw in their eyes that they all wanted him to act out against his better nature. He calmed himself, "for it was him they'd come for, not only Jabez Stone."
Daniel began speaking of simple and good things -- "the freshness of a fine morning... the taste of food when you're hungry... the new day that's every day when you're a child" -- and how "without freedom, they sickened." He spoke passionately of how wonderful it was to be a man, and to be an American. He admitted the wrongs done in America, but argued that something new and good had grown from it, "and everybody had played a part in it, even the traitors." Mankind "got tricked and trapped and bamboozled, but it was a great journey" that no "demon ever foaled" could ever understand.
The jury announced its verdict: "We find for the defendant, Jabez Stone." They said that "even the damned may salute the eloquence of Mr. Webster." The judge and jury disappeared with the break of dawn. Mr. Scratch congratulated Daniel and the contract was torn up.
Daniel then grabbed the stranger and twisted his arm behind his back, "for he knew that once you bested anybody like Mr. Scratch in fair fight, his power on you was gone." Daniel made him agree "never to bother Jabez Stone nor his heirs or assigns nor any other New Hampshire man till doomsday!"
[edit] Themes
[edit] Patriotism
Patriotism is the main theme in the story: Webster claims that the Devil cannot take the soul because he cannot claim American citizenship. "And who with better right?" the devil replies, going on to list several wrongs done in America, thereby demonstrating his presence in America. The Devil says "I am merely an honest American like yourself - and of the best descent - for, to tell the truth, Mr. Webster, though I don't like to boast of it, my name is older in this country than yours."
Webster insists on a jury trial as an American right, with Americans for the jury. The Devil then provides the worst examples of Americans for the judge and jury. In Daniel's speech "He was talking about the things that make a country a country, and a man a man" rather than legal points of the case. For Webster, freedom and independence defines manhood: "Yes, even in hell, if a man was a man, you'd know it."
This theme of American patriotism, freedom and independence is the explanation for Webster's victory: The jury is damned to hell, but they are American and therefore so independent that they can resist the Devil.
[edit] Slavery
In his speech, Webster briefly acknowledges Slavery and Racism as evil, but then virtually ignores them, even saying that suffering through them made America a stronger country. This makes for a condemnation of both slavery and Daniel Webster. Benét acknowledges the evil by having the devil say: "When the first wrong was done to the first Indian, I was there. When the first slaver put out for the Congo, I stood on her deck." Benét has Daniel Webster affirm racism, giving him the line: "For if two New Hampshiremen aren't a match for the devil, we might as well give the country back to the Indians."
The real Daniel Webster was willing to compromise on slavery in favor of keeping the Union together, disappointing many abolitionists.
At the end of the story during the Devil's fortune telling, he says: "But the last great speech you make will turn many of your own against you ... They will call you Ichabod; they will call you by other names. Even in New England some will say you have turned your coat and sold your country, and their voices will be loud against you till you die." This doesn't bother Webster; only keeping the union together mattered to him.
[edit] Treatment of the Indians
On the treatment of the Indians/Native Americans, the story is in many ways self-contradictory. As noted, Webster states "If two New Hampshiremen aren't a match for the devil, we might as well give the country back to the Indians" - which implies that as long as white people are united and sure of themselves, they need not give back the land and were justified in taking it away from the Indians in the first place.
The stranger/Satan remarks that "When the first wrong was done to the first Indian, I was there"; which implies a recognition that the Indians were wronged. Yet "King Philip, wild and proud as he had been in life, with the great gash in his head that gave him his death wound" is among the notorious villains of American history which the stranger produces for his jury -though King Philip's "villainies" were arguably no more than a reaction to the wrongs done to his people.
Yet later on, Daniel Webster's appeal to the jury on "what it means to be American" completely and unreservably includes King Philip among "the Americans" (which is an anachronism as the historical Daniel Webster would have been unlikely to express such an opinion). The narrator also expresses sympathy for King Philip when he tells us that one juror "heard the cry of his lost nation" in Webster's eloquent appeal.
These ambiguities seem to reflect the ambiguous perception of this aspect of American history at the time of writing (rather than at the time when the story is supposed to take place).
[edit] The Devil
The devil is portrayed as polite and refined. When the devil arrives he is described as "a soft-spoken, dark-dressed stranger," who "drove up in a handsome buggy." Benét named the devil Mr. Scratch but often referred to him as the stranger, writing passages such as "The stranger looked a little embarrassed." The Devil never threatens, and always acts politely, even shaking hands with Webster in the end. In fact it is Webster who attacks the Devil, literally twisting his arm.
[edit] Quotes
Daniel, in response to Jabez Stone's imploration to depart while there is still time
- "I'm obliged to you, Neighbor Stone. It's kindly thought of. But there's a jug on the table and a case in hand. And I never left a jug or a case half finished in my life."
Daniel asks the Devil's name
- “I’ve gone by a good many... Perhaps Scratch will do for the evening. I’m often called that in these regions.”
Daniel on jury selection
- "Let it be any court you choose, so it is an American judge and an American jury! Let it be the quick or the dead; I'll abide the issue!"
The jury enters
- One and all, they came into the room with the fires of hell still upon them, and the stranger named their names and their deeds as they came, till the tale of twelve was told. Yet the stranger had told the truth - they had all played a part in America.
- "Are you satisfied with the jury, Mr. Webster?" said the stranger mockingly, when they had taken their places.
- The sweat stood upon Dan'l Webster's brow, but his voice was clear.
- "Quite satisfied," he said. "Though I miss General Arnold from the company."
- "Benedict Arnold is engaged upon other business," said the stranger, with a glower.
The trial
- Dan'l Webster had faced some hard juries and hanging judges in his time, but this was the hardest he'd ever faced, and he knew it. They sat there with a kind of glitter in their eyes, and the stranger's smooth voice went on and on. Every time he'd raise an objection, it'd be "Objection sustained," but whenever Dan'l objected, it'd be "Objection denied." Well, you couldn't expect fair play from a fellow like this Mr. Scratch.
The Jury's verdict
- Walter Butler: Perhaps 'tis not strictly in accordance with the evidence, but even the damned may salute the eloquence of Mr. Webster.
The ending
- They say whenever the devil comes near Marshfield, even now, he gives it a wide berth. And he hasn't been seen in the state of New Hampshire from that day to this. I'm not talking about Massachusetts or Vermont.
[edit] Film Adaptations
A film of the same title (also called All That Money Can Buy, A Certain Mr. Scratch, Daniel and the Devil and Here Is a Man) was made in 1941 and an as yet unreleased one in 2002. The 1941 film stars Edward Arnold, Walter Huston, Jane Darwell, Simone Simon, Gene Lockhart and Anne Shirley, and adapted by Benét and Dan Totheroh from Benét's short story. It was directed by William Dieterle. It won the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Walter Huston). When filming first began, Thomas Mitchell had the role of Daniel Webster, but he broke his leg and had to be replaced by Edward Arnold. Mitchell can still be seen in some scenes.
The 1941 film suffered a similar fate as the Ingrid Bergman version of Joan of Arc (1948 film). (Revealingly perhaps, both films were released by RKO). Released at 107 minutes, the 1941 version ofThe Devil and Daniel Webster was a critical, but not a box-office success, and was subsequently re-released with nearly half-an-hour cut, reducing the film to a mere 85 minutes. However, unlike the edited version of Joan of Arc, in which the actual cuts were unnoticeable to those who had never seen the full-length version, the cuts in The Devil and Daniel Webster were crudely done, as if a piece of film had broken and had clumsily been spliced together. The film was restored to its full-length in the 1990's and has been issued in that form on DVD. Unfortunately, the restored portions are taken from vastly inferior prints of the movie - something that, luckily, did not happen to Joan of Arc, which has been exceptionally well-restored to its full length.
The 2001 version was directed by Alec Baldwin and starred Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, and Jennifer Love Hewitt, the latter as the Devil, and due to financing difficulties has remained unfinished for some time. However, it is slated for release in 2007 by My Own Worst Enemy Productions.
[edit] Trivia
- All the predictions the devil makes are based on actual events of Daniel Webster's life: He did have ambitions to become President, his sons died in war, and as a result of a speech he gave denouncing abolitionists, many in the North considered him a traitor.
- This story was parodied in the first segment of The Simpsons' special Halloween episode, "Treehouse of Horror IV," entitled "The Devil and Homer Simpson". In their version, the Devil is played by Ned Flanders, and Homer sells his soul not for better luck, but for one doughnut. Lacking an oratorical heavyweight like Daniel Webster, it is up to incompetent attorney Lionel Hutz to win Homer's freedom from Hell.
- In The Rolling Stones song "Sympathy for the Devil," the Devil recounts how he was present at many injustices, which is very similar to a passage in this story.
- A 2005 biopic about cult musician Daniel Johnston was entitled The Devil and Daniel Johnston in reference to the story.
- The story is referenced in the Magnetic Fields song "Two Characters in Search of a Country Song," from the 1994 album The Charm of the Highway Strip ("You were Jesse James, I was William Tell/ You were Daniel Webster, I was The Devil Himself").
- This story was also parodied in the Tiny Toons special, Night Ghoulery, with Plucky Duck in the role of Daniel Webster.
- In several non-English speaking countries, the story is included in textbooks for teaching English to students who are often baffled by the references to events of 19th century American history[citation needed].
- The story was parodied in an episode of "Tripping the Rift". In this episode entitled "The Devil and a guy named Webster", Chode McBlob sells his soul to save himself, and by extension his crew, from a black hole. His crew in an attempt to save his soul, decide to go back in time and bring Daniel Webster to the future to act as Chode's attorney. Instead of returning with Daniel Webster, they come back with Emmanuel Lewis from the TV sitcom Webster. After seeing how good Lewis is with contracts, he is hired. The jury for the trial consisted of Attila the Hun, Adolf Hitler and Richard Nixon. Lewis is quick to get the Devil to admit he had created a fake black hole to force the deal. Chode is awarded with a "Get Out of Hell Free" card, which he uses immediately.
- The Superman novel Miracle Monday mentions the events of the story without naming the characters, except for the Devil, who is revealed not to be the Devil himself, but rather Saturn, an agent of his. The climax of the novel, where Saturn must grant Superman a wish after having been defeated by his nobility, is also likely inspired by this story.
- The story was adaptated by Warner Bros. in A Pinky and the Brain Halloween, in which Pinky gives his soul to Satan so that Brain's dream of world domination is realized (with Snowball reduced to his court jester). But Brain soon misses Pinky and travels to Hell to get him back (leaving Snowball behind to seize his throne). In the end, however, the contract between Pinky and Satan is declared null and void because Satan was never able to provide Pinky with a "radish-rose whatsamawhosits" he requested being given at the beginning of the episode.
