The Devil Continued (Contains Spoilers)

Synopsis
The Devil starts with an inheretance. This allows for a young man to arranges his affairs, in such a way that he can concentrate not on shallow externals like food and clothes, but deeply meaningful issues like getting laid.

And that is exactly what he devotes himself to. But soon he runs into money problems. His Mom has the idea that he should marry for money. So he does.

(On a personal note, allow me to just say that I'm so glad that my mom is like...a hippy, kind of person.--She would never suggest I marry for money. She always suggests that I marry for power.--I feel that way when reading Tolstoy, and I feel that way when reading most 18th, 19th century novels.)

Marrying for money is a pretty good plan, until the women he had an affair with comes back to the estate.

Dramatically, this feels like practice for Anna Karenina. Using affairs to provide tense scenes that challenge the character's basic values.

I'm not going to give away any of the two endings he wrote.

But maybe after I reread Anna K. I will chart out the development of these two stories. Or maybe I'll just rewatch Airplane! What a great movie.

Questions for Discussion
1)Why is the Story called 'The Devil'?
2) A Related Question is what does the epigram have to do with the story?


Justin Kahn is not a Professional Literary Critic