Imagine yourself camping in the Pine Barrens. You hear a noise and then see a strange creature lurking in the shadows. Could it be the Jersey Devil? The Legend of the Jersey Devil began in 1735, it was supposedly the thirteenth child of Mrs. Leeds. When she found out she was pregnant with her thirteenth child, she cursed it and said it better be a devil. When it was born, the midwife died of shock and the Devil ate its twelve sibilants, sparing its mother and flew out the chimney (Juliano 1). Another version of the story is that Mrs. Leeds cursed the child after giving birth to it, she then locked it in the attic for years. It then transformed into the beast it is today and escaped into the woods (Russell 1). The Jersey Devil is only a myth to some and a horrific reality to others. Thousands of people have seen the Devil and been harassed by it throughout the years. There are many similarities in these sightings. Many of the witnesses say it has a long neck, a tail, wings, and hooves. There has also been vicious attacks on animals. Several accounts have reported mutilated pets and livestock. The legend of the Jersey Devil may be true because of the sightings, descriptions, and attacks.
Thousands of people have seen the Jersey Devil, many of which are respectable and honest citizens. Even famous and powerful people have seen him. Commodore Stephen Decatur, an early nineteenth-century American naval hero, was test firing cannonballs. He shot the Devil through it's chest. It seemed unharmed by the gaping hole in it's chest and flew away (McCloy, Miller 31). Even royalty has seen the Devil. Joseph Bonaparte, former King of Spain and brother of Napoleon, reportedly saw the Devil while hunting on his estate. A cab driver was reportedly fixing a flat tire on a road near the pine barrens at night. As he finished, a bipedal creature with wings grabbed the flat tire and flew away. The cab driver sped away in fear. The next day, he returned to investigate, the tire was found 100 yards in the woods (Perticaro 3). January 1909 was the most widespread period of sightings ever recorded. Thousands of people claimed to have seen the Devil during the week of January 16 23.
In “The Devil and Tom Walker,” written by Washington Irving’s, Tom Walker gives his soul to the devil for greediest. For example, in the story, it was said, “He accumulated bonds and mortgages, gradually squeezed his customers closer and closer and sent them at length, dry as a sponge, from his door.” This shows how greedy and selfish he was for not caring about what anyone else feels,
How would one feel if one came face to face with the Devil himself? Would one run away screaming or would one let the Devil change their views of the world? Gary and Goodman Brown both had different experiences with the Devil resulting in some of the best works of fiction ever wrote. Gary met the Devil as a young boy who feared him unrelentingly, but Goodman Brown talked to the Devil and let the Devil change his life and the viewpoints of people he knows. I plan to discuss on how Gary, from the short story “The Man in the Black Suit”, and Goodman Brown, from “Young Goodman Brown”, dealt with the Devil and compare their encounters together.
that arch-deceiver and source of grotesque terror, the devil" (357). Connie failed to recognize that
In The Devil and Tom Walker, Tom walker is depicted in his first encounter with the devil incarnate (7). Tom walker is standing in the foreground leaning on his cane. His coat and pants are a light color in contrast with the background. The devil is in sitting on a log in the background. The only noticeably different color between the devil and the background is the red sash draped around him. The entire painting, aside from Tom Walker’s clothes, is a blend of brown and green.
In the story “Where are you Going, Where Have you been?” Joyce Carol Oates tells us about a fifteen year old girl named Connie. Connie is confronted by a young man who is trying to persuade her to take a ride with him. He introduces himself as Arnold Friend and kindly asks her to come with him but she refused. He then threatens Connie and her family. She is then forced outside and leaves with Arnold Friend. Arnold Friend clearly symbolizes the devil through his physical traits, his knowledge of Connie, and his power over her kind of like he was hypnotizing her to go with him.
Trask, Richard B.. The devil hath been raised: a documentary history of the Salem Village witchcraft outbreak of March 1692 : together with a collection of newly located and gathered witchcraft documents. Rev. ed. Danvers, Mass.: Yeoman Press, 1997. Print.
His long “buzzard wings” and bald head, I thought, or maybe it is a vulture fallen out of the sky, and the family has been just unaware of what kind of creature this was, but then realized it could talk (Marquez, 1955, p. 2). The family was so curious about the creature they allowed it to be seen by neighbors’ against the recommendation of the wise old woman who also stated the creature was an angel (Marquez, 1955). At those times angels were fugitives of the celestial conspiracy (Marquez, 1955), which meant they were beli...
The most obvious aspects of Arnold Friend that suggest that he is the Devil in disguise are his physical features. For example, several references are made to the abnormality of his feet. As he walks about, he stumbles...
The historical settings of these stories is made apparent by the use of elements common to the revolutionary era. In The Devil and Tom Walker when Irving is describing the setting he gives an impression that it took place in America. In describing the setting he says, "It had been the stronghold of the Indians during their war with the colonists." Since the war took place in America this is one evidence of his love for America. Another is when Irving is describing the devil and he makes the point that he a particularly American devil. When the devil first meets Tom and the devil is telling him about himself he says, "I amuse myself by presiding at the persecutions of Quakers and Anabaptists; I am the great patron and prompter of slave dealers and the grandmaster of the Salem witches." In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow there are many American traits in the description of the setting. It is said by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a...
Among the rumors was the idea that the natives were connected to the devil. People believed that the Indians were Satan-worshippers, and that not only were...
In addition, these devils are carnivores. These animals can also be scavengers. Although some people would expect them to be
The layout of the "The Devil in Massachusetts" appears to be in more of a narrative form, with the elements of a fictional story. This is evident throug...
The Devil is explaining to Tom who he is and he also describes himself. The Devil is often described as a man is disguises and here it is the same way. He describes himself as a woodsman, a black miner and a huntsman and all of these disguises can be related to dark and scary people, which is exactly what the devil is. “The devil” said he guards, Captain Kidd’s treasure, he said he guards all treasure. “The devil presided at the hiding of Captain Kidd’s money, and took it under his guardianship; but this, it is well known, he always does with buried treasure, particularly when it has been ill-gotten”. (Irving). He claims to own the swamp near Tom Walker and his wife’s home, where Tom met him during his first encounter where they were surrounded by trees with carved names of the living but soon to die and be fuel for hell’s fire. Old Scratch is the devil who knows when he’s got people right where he wants them, and tries to offer the deal of a lifetime. After Toms encounter with the devil he went to tell his wife about the
...en by Mitchell. The words he chose to describe evil in his story, to describe two beings, are very similar and one could conclude that the two are the same being. The only problem with this assumption are the visual associations that already exist in people’s minds. It seems impossible that an angel, something noted for its winged physique and angelic appearance, or a fallen angel, namely Satan, who is characterized as a red demon, could be the same as the Serpent, which is described as a sea monster. Although modern conceptions of the devil have changed, and the devil has become more monster like, it can still be hard to imagine the devil, who was an angel, to look like a sea monster. Once visual connotations are put aside, it is possible to interchange the two characters.
The creature’s evil nature does not acquit a victim since the beast calls for fellow devils, Satan and his confidantes