Never Bet the Devil Your Head
Summary
The narrator tells the story of the short life of his poor friend, Toby Dammit. As he was poor, he had no money, yet he gambled. As a joke, he would "bet the Devil his head." The narrator claims that it his his mother's fault for all of his vices since she is left-handed, so she hits him with her left hand, which is improper. He tries to disrupt Toby's bad habits, but fails to do so. Nevertheless, they remain friends. The two come across a turnstile by a bridge. Toby "bets the Devil his head" that he could jump over it, and as usual, the narrator advises him against it. Just as Toby is about to jump, an old man suddenly appears, encouraging Toby to make the leap. In fact, he suggests a running start. Once again, the narrator pegs Toby not to do it, and thinks the old man's actions as improper. The narrator witnesses Toby make a perfect jump, but falls backwards. He sees a headless Toby and the old man fleeing with something, presumably Toby's head. A sharp, hidden bar happened to be lying at the spot where Toby jumped. The narrator sends transcendentalists the bill for Toby's funeral, but they send it back, for they do not believe in what can be proven by science. Toby's funeral expenses is left unpaid, the narrator has Dammit's body dug up and sold for dog meat. This story is "a lesson to all evil takers."
To simplify transcendentalism: A philosophy where the idea of reality is not based on science. Free and spiritual thought is better than experience and material things.
Poe wrote this short story because many people complained that he did not include a moral in his stories. He also despises the Transcendentalism Era. During the time of his writing, he did not claim to dislike against Transcendentalists, but later, he admits his distaste for such people.
The narrator tells the story of the short life of his poor friend, Toby Dammit. As he was poor, he had no money, yet he gambled. As a joke, he would "bet the Devil his head." The narrator claims that it his his mother's fault for all of his vices since she is left-handed, so she hits him with her left hand, which is improper. He tries to disrupt Toby's bad habits, but fails to do so. Nevertheless, they remain friends. The two come across a turnstile by a bridge. Toby "bets the Devil his head" that he could jump over it, and as usual, the narrator advises him against it. Just as Toby is about to jump, an old man suddenly appears, encouraging Toby to make the leap. In fact, he suggests a running start. Once again, the narrator pegs Toby not to do it, and thinks the old man's actions as improper. The narrator witnesses Toby make a perfect jump, but falls backwards. He sees a headless Toby and the old man fleeing with something, presumably Toby's head. A sharp, hidden bar happened to be lying at the spot where Toby jumped. The narrator sends transcendentalists the bill for Toby's funeral, but they send it back, for they do not believe in what can be proven by science. Toby's funeral expenses is left unpaid, the narrator has Dammit's body dug up and sold for dog meat. This story is "a lesson to all evil takers."
To simplify transcendentalism: A philosophy where the idea of reality is not based on science. Free and spiritual thought is better than experience and material things.
Poe wrote this short story because many people complained that he did not include a moral in his stories. He also despises the Transcendentalism Era. During the time of his writing, he did not claim to dislike against Transcendentalists, but later, he admits his distaste for such people.
"she had the misfortune to be left-handed, and a child flogged left-handedly had better be left unflogged.
Analysis
Gambling/Over-confidence - Don't make bets you can't pay off. Toby is very poor, so he consistently bet the Devil his head over the very little money he has. Obviously, he can't pay the money or his head, yet he bet the Devil his crown, which was the reason for his death.
Batrachomyomachia: a silly altercation
"Philip Melanchthon, some time ago, wrote a commentary upon the 'Batrachomyomachia...'"
Chastisements: rebuke, a beating
"I was often present at Toby's chastisements..."
Discountenanced: disapproved
"It was discountenanced by society..."
Braggadocio - boastful or arrogant behavior
"I therefore told him, in so many words, that he was a braggadocio, and could not do what he said."
Transcendentalism: a philosophy started in the early 19th century that promotes intuitive, spiritual thinking instead of scientific thinking based on material things.
(a philosophy which says that thought and spiritual things are more real than ordinary human experience and material things.)
Ignoramuses: an extremely ignorant person
"There is no just ground, therefore, for the charge brought against me by certain ignoramuses..."
1.) "When he said 'I'll bet you so and so,' nobody ever thought of taking him up; but still I could not help thinking it my duty to put him down. The habit was an immoral one, and so I told him."
2.) "I remonstrated -- but to no purpose. I demonstrated -- in vain. I entreated -- he smiled. I implored -- he laughed. I preached- he sneered. "
3.) "I was about to reply, notwithstanding my previous resolutions, with some remonstrance against his impiety..."
Toby Dammit - He is a poor boy, who commits terrible deeds such as gambling. It is not believed that it is Toby's fault he is a delinquent, but his mother's because she is left-handed.
1.) "I was often present at Toby's chastisements, and, even by the way in which he kicked, I could perceive that he was getting worse and worse every day. "
2.) "At last I saw, through the tears in my eyes, that there was no hope of the villain at all..."
3.) "At five months of age he used to get into such passions that he was unable to articulate. At six months, I caught him gnawing a pack of cards. At seven months he was in the constant habit of catching and kissing the female babies. At eight months he peremptorily refused to put his signature to the Temperance pledge. Thus he went on increasing in iniquity, month after month, until, at the close of the first year, he not only insisted upon wearing mustaches, but had contracted a propensity for cursing and swearing, and for backing his assertions by bets."
Mrs. Dammit - A left-handed mother who beats her son. It is misconceived to be her fault her son does terrible actions. The time period the story takes place is when civilization hate and fear left-handed people, thinking that they have a connection with the Devil.
1.) "She had the misfortune to be left-handed, and a child flogged left-handedly had better be left unflogged."
2.) "The world revolves from right to left. It will not do to whip a baby from left to right."
3.) "If each blow in the proper direction drives an evil propensity out, it follows that every thump in an opposite one knocks its quota of wickedness in."
The Old Man - The narrator developed the idea that the old man was the Devil, who ran away with something, undoubtedly Toby's head. Furthermore, the sharp bar that Toby hit his head on was concealed. In fact, it may have never been there, but instead, the Devil placed it there. Moreover, the no one saw where the old man came from, which adds to the mysterious conclusions the narrator came to.
1.) "My glance at length fell into a nook of the frame -- work of the bridge, and upon the figure of a little lame old gentleman of venerable aspect."
2.) "Upon observing him more closely, I perceived that he wore a black silk apron over his small-clothes; and this was a thing which I thought very odd. Before I had time to make any remark, however, upon so singular a circumstance, he interrupted me with a second 'ahem!'"
3.) "At the same instant I saw the old gentleman limping off at the top of his speed, having caught and wrapped up in his apron something that fell heavily into it from the darkness of the arch just over the turnstile."
Analysis
- Themes
- "The truth is, his head was gone."
- "I do not wish to speak ill of my poor friend Toby. He had sad faults, and he died a sad death."
- "So he grew worse and worse, and at last died, a lesson to all evil talkers."
Gambling/Over-confidence - Don't make bets you can't pay off. Toby is very poor, so he consistently bet the Devil his head over the very little money he has. Obviously, he can't pay the money or his head, yet he bet the Devil his crown, which was the reason for his death.
- "I'll bet you a trifle."
- "I'll bet the devil my head."
- His habit of betting had grown as he grew, so that when he came to be a man, he could hardly speak a sentence without offering to bet on it.
- The narrator pays for his funeral and sends the bill to the Transcendentalists who he believes caused Toby to think he could transcend all obstacles with the power of his mind and taught him that there was no real evil in the world. When the Transcendentalists will not pay it, he has Toby dug up and sold for dog food.
- It is not a detective story or a paranormal or horror story. The story is told in the first person by a narrator who sounds like he could be the author talking. He says his critics have accused him of not writing stories with proper "morals". He mocks literary critics who seek a profound hidden meaning behind works of fiction.
- Figurative Language/ Style
Batrachomyomachia: a silly altercation
"Philip Melanchthon, some time ago, wrote a commentary upon the 'Batrachomyomachia...'"
Chastisements: rebuke, a beating
"I was often present at Toby's chastisements..."
Discountenanced: disapproved
"It was discountenanced by society..."
Braggadocio - boastful or arrogant behavior
"I therefore told him, in so many words, that he was a braggadocio, and could not do what he said."
Transcendentalism: a philosophy started in the early 19th century that promotes intuitive, spiritual thinking instead of scientific thinking based on material things.
(a philosophy which says that thought and spiritual things are more real than ordinary human experience and material things.)
Ignoramuses: an extremely ignorant person
"There is no just ground, therefore, for the charge brought against me by certain ignoramuses..."
- Characters/ Narrator
1.) "When he said 'I'll bet you so and so,' nobody ever thought of taking him up; but still I could not help thinking it my duty to put him down. The habit was an immoral one, and so I told him."
2.) "I remonstrated -- but to no purpose. I demonstrated -- in vain. I entreated -- he smiled. I implored -- he laughed. I preached- he sneered. "
3.) "I was about to reply, notwithstanding my previous resolutions, with some remonstrance against his impiety..."
Toby Dammit - He is a poor boy, who commits terrible deeds such as gambling. It is not believed that it is Toby's fault he is a delinquent, but his mother's because she is left-handed.
1.) "I was often present at Toby's chastisements, and, even by the way in which he kicked, I could perceive that he was getting worse and worse every day. "
2.) "At last I saw, through the tears in my eyes, that there was no hope of the villain at all..."
3.) "At five months of age he used to get into such passions that he was unable to articulate. At six months, I caught him gnawing a pack of cards. At seven months he was in the constant habit of catching and kissing the female babies. At eight months he peremptorily refused to put his signature to the Temperance pledge. Thus he went on increasing in iniquity, month after month, until, at the close of the first year, he not only insisted upon wearing mustaches, but had contracted a propensity for cursing and swearing, and for backing his assertions by bets."
Mrs. Dammit - A left-handed mother who beats her son. It is misconceived to be her fault her son does terrible actions. The time period the story takes place is when civilization hate and fear left-handed people, thinking that they have a connection with the Devil.
1.) "She had the misfortune to be left-handed, and a child flogged left-handedly had better be left unflogged."
2.) "The world revolves from right to left. It will not do to whip a baby from left to right."
3.) "If each blow in the proper direction drives an evil propensity out, it follows that every thump in an opposite one knocks its quota of wickedness in."
The Old Man - The narrator developed the idea that the old man was the Devil, who ran away with something, undoubtedly Toby's head. Furthermore, the sharp bar that Toby hit his head on was concealed. In fact, it may have never been there, but instead, the Devil placed it there. Moreover, the no one saw where the old man came from, which adds to the mysterious conclusions the narrator came to.
1.) "My glance at length fell into a nook of the frame -- work of the bridge, and upon the figure of a little lame old gentleman of venerable aspect."
2.) "Upon observing him more closely, I perceived that he wore a black silk apron over his small-clothes; and this was a thing which I thought very odd. Before I had time to make any remark, however, upon so singular a circumstance, he interrupted me with a second 'ahem!'"
3.) "At the same instant I saw the old gentleman limping off at the top of his speed, having caught and wrapped up in his apron something that fell heavily into it from the darkness of the arch just over the turnstile."