Why is Stephen Vincent Benét's The Devil and Daniel Webster so Relevant to our Present Situation?

Who was Stephen Vincent Benét? To those who cannot confess to knowing anything about him I hasten to affirm that until very recently I was one of their number. Many years ago I was browsing through an anthology of short stories and came across one entitled The Devil and Daniel Mortimer.So inattentive was I at that time that I failed to note its author but a certain passage in the story must have impressed me quite deeply, so much so that years later I felt a need to read the story again, but this time more closely, and learn something about its author. I was surprised to learn that in the 1920s and 1930s Benét was more popular than writers like Robert Frost whose reputation has not faded until now. His John Brown's Body, a history of the Civil War in verse achieved a higher rate of sales than Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha and Evangeline. Even to this day Benét is still considered to be the author of the best work devoted to the American Civil War. However Benét is remembered chiefly on account of his short story entitled The Devil and Daniel Webster.

Benét's path to fame was long and arduous but his powers of perseverance and his wife, who shared his interest in poetry and the arts, pulled him through. His liberal political outlook led him to support the policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and oppose the trend towards fascism, racism and religious intolerance that affected the United States as well as Germany and Italy. His great interest in American history extended to the antebellum period when Daniel Webster played a leading role in politics and in this regard he was greatly helped by his oratorial skills and his expert knowledge of the law. He even had his eye on the Presidency of the United States. His high reputation became somewhat tarnished by accusations that he compromised his high abolitionist ideals at a certain point in his career and allowed himself to be overawed by those with power and influence. As far as his suitability for treatment as a character portrayed in a literary work was concerned, it was his eloquence combined with his devotion to the Union of all American states that commended him to Benét when he set out to write The Devil and Daniel Webster.

Any mention of the Devil in connection with a real person with a place in the annals of history brings us to a discussion of the 'art fairy tale' for which Romantic authors are well noted, and among these, Adelbert von Chamisso, the author of Peter Schemihls Wundersame Gechichte (Peter Schlemihl’s Wonderful Story) about the man who sold his shadow to the Devil, but not his immortal soul. Chamisso followed the tradition set by the legend of Don Juan and the story of Dr. Faustus, originally a cautionary tale expressing a Lutheran denouncement of the black arts. Marlowe and Goethe elevated Faust first to the role of a doomed tragic hero and then to that of God's erring servant who finally reaches a state of grace. It can be no small matter that verses from the Book of Job are cited in The Devil and Daniel Webster.

Published in 1937 this short story was short indeed, about fifteen pages in length. The story begins by introducing us Jabez Stone, a humble farmer in New Hampshire close to borders of Vermont and Massachusetts. He bemoans the fact that he is being thwarted by bad luck in his life until encounters Mr. Scratch, the Devil in the guise of an urbane and wily lawyer. In previous works of literature we find similar treatments of the Devil as personified by the obsequious Mephistopheles or the unctuous 'man in a grey coat' in 'Peter Schlemihl.' Mr. Scratch offers Stone a way out of his troubled state on condition that the hapless farmer sells Scratch his soul, for Stone a mere figment of no great importance. He will receive a limitless supply of gold coins over a period of seven years. Scratch regards the transaction a mortgage contract, possibly of the subprime variety. On the expiration of the agreed term Stone gets cold feet and in despair hires the legal services of Daniel Webster, who accepts the challenge even though the fate of his own soul is thrown into the bargain.

The case for the defence seems hopeless. Webster cannot deny that Stone accepted the conditions of contract without demure and signed the requisite document with his own blood. So far so good for Scratch but only within the bounds of private legal arrangements. Webster raises an objection in the light of the American Constitution . On this basis Webster argues that as a American citizen Stone cannot be forced to place himself under the jurisdiction of a foreign state. Scratch then pleads that he is also an American citizen, or at least one intimately involved in the history of America from the day the first black slave arrived on its shores. Similarly, the jury in this case should consist only of American citizens, albeit only those to be drawn from the depths of hell and only those who were guilty of the heinous crime of treachery against the American Union. The members of the jury duly appear at midnight. General Arnold does not turn up despite expectations as he has other engagements. Arnold was perhaps the most infamous traitor of all despite leading Patriot troops to victory at Saratoga Springs. He deserted to the British side at a later stage of the war.

Webster begins his plea in a defiant and bombastic manner only to realize that the negative energy he released adds fuel to the resident evil in the minds of the jurors as revealed by their fire-glinting eyes. He then changes his approach entirely and eloquently evokes the blessings of nature in an American environment which even the jurors had enjoyed in childhood and youth.. Former memories flood into their minds and soften their hearts so much that they find for the defendant, much to Scratch's chagrin.

Does the story carry a message to us today? I suggest it does so in three ways.

First, it exposes the dangers that arise from unchecked escalation, which according to a recent analysis by Friedrich Glasl proceeds through nine stages which end in total negation and self-destruction. Second, it reveals the futility of equating your enemy with total evil, thereby making the chance of any sensible compromise with him virtually impossible. Third,   find forum of discussionit reveals the need to look beyond petty legalities and seek the  ..aninclusive settlement of disputes.

Link to the film The Deviol and Daniel Webster / All that Money can Buy (1941)
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+Devil+and+Daniel+Webster+1941&&view=detail&mid=9B36B9CAA57040FBE05C9B36B9CAA57040FBE05C&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3F%26q%3DThe%2BDevil%2Band%2BDaniel%2BWebster%2B1941%26FORM%3DVDMHRSFriedrich

Glasl's nine-level model of escalation https://greator.com/en/escalation-levels/?fbclid=IwAR3I-z2G1507n20XFs4M2Tz0H3tspn9ovam7GFC-3SEHWCpVy2sAeUzrKsk


In the filmic interpretation of the story that was released in 1941 initially  under the title All that Money can Buy General Arnold is admitted to the jury in the trial of Jabez Stone and the .actor who played his part was Edward Arnold by nameLink to the film The Deviol and Daniel Webster / All that Money can Buy (1941)
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+Devil+and+Daniel+Webster+1941&&view=detail&mid=9B36B9CAA57040FBE05C9B36B9CAA57040FBE05C&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3F%26q%3DThe%2BDevil%2Band%2BDaniel%2BWebster%2B1941%26FORM%3DVDMHRSFriedrich

Glasl's nine-level model of escalation https://greator.com/en/escalation-levels/?fbclid=IwAR3I-z2G1507n20XFs4M2Tz0H3tspn9ovam7GFC-3SEHWCpVy2sAeUzrKsk


In the filmic interpretation of the story that was released in 1941 initially  under the title All that Money can Buy General Arnold is admitted to the jury in the trial of Jabez Stone and the Link to the film The Deviol and Daniel Webster / All that Money can Buy (1941)
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+Devil+and+Daniel+Webster+1941&&view=detail&mid=9B36B9CAA57040FBE05C9B36B9CAA57040FBE05C&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3F%26q%3DThe%2BDevil%2Band%2BDaniel%2BWebster%2B1941%26FORM%3DVDMHRSFriedrich

Glasl's nine-level model of escalation https://greator.com/en/escalation-levels/?fbclid=IwAR3I-z2G1507n20XFs4M2Tz0H3tspn9ovam7GFC-3SEHWCpVy2sAeUzrKsk


In the filmic interpretation of the story that was released in 1941 initially  under the title All that Money can Buy General Arnold is admitted to the jury in the trial of Jabez Stone and the .actor who played his part was Edward Arnold by name. .