In the tall tales "The Devil and Daniel Webster" by Stephen Vincent Benet and "The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irvine the authors use the devil as an archetype but both use it in different ways. I believe the authors use this archetype as a means to support the main character and teach us lessons we shouldn't forget. Without this archetype there would be no story or the story would turn out differently. The archetype contributes to the main characters lives and changes them completely.
In Stephen Benet's story "The Devil and Daniel Webster", the devil is Mr.Scratch he is well put together and polite. When he arrives to take Mr. Jabez's soul the Devil approaches him politely. You can imply the devil came to jabez to help him with his needs. Mr. Jabez was a poor man and in desperate need of help of any kind or form."It was about the last straw for Jabez Stone. 'I vow,' he said, and he looked around him kind of desperate--'I vow it's enough to make a man want to sell his soul to the devil And I would, too, for two …show more content…
In this story the devil isn't polite as the devil in Benet's story. He takes him unsuspectedly "He was on the point of foreclosing a mortgage, by which he would complete the ruin of an unlucky land speculator for whom he had professed the greatest friendship. The poor land-jobber begged him to grant a few months' indulgence. Tom had grown testy and irritated, and refused another day "My family will be ruined and brought upon the parish," said the land-jobber. "Charity begins at home," replied Tom; "I must take care of myself in these hard times." "You have made so much money out of me," said the speculator. Tom lost his patience and his piety. "The devil take me," said he, "if I have made a farthing!" The devil takes tom without giving him a chance to redeem
In Stephen Benet's story "The Devil and Daniel Webster", the devil is Mr.Scratch he is well put together and polite. When he arrives to take Mr. Jabez's soul the Devil approaches him politely. You can imply the devil came to jabez to help him with his needs. Mr. Jabez was a poor man and in desperate need of help of any kind or form."It was about the last straw for Jabez Stone. 'I vow,' he said, and he looked around him kind of desperate--'I vow it's enough to make a man want to sell his soul to the devil And I would, too, for two …show more content…
In this story the devil isn't polite as the devil in Benet's story. He takes him unsuspectedly "He was on the point of foreclosing a mortgage, by which he would complete the ruin of an unlucky land speculator for whom he had professed the greatest friendship. The poor land-jobber begged him to grant a few months' indulgence. Tom had grown testy and irritated, and refused another day "My family will be ruined and brought upon the parish," said the land-jobber. "Charity begins at home," replied Tom; "I must take care of myself in these hard times." "You have made so much money out of me," said the speculator. Tom lost his patience and his piety. "The devil take me," said he, "if I have made a farthing!" The devil takes tom without giving him a chance to redeem