The Devil Gets a Bargain

[jamesq]

I just realized that the Devil wins in The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

First, the Devil tempts Johnny with avarice by offering him "a fiddle of gold" if he wins their fiddling contest. Johnny succums to sin simply by accepting the bet. Next the Devil deliberately loses so that Johnny walks away thinking he's "the best there's ever been", thus engaging in the sin of pride.

If I were the Devil I'd present Johnny with a fiddle made of fool's gold thus provoking a reaction of wrath once Johnny had his shiny fiddle appraised.

Comments

[thekillerb69.livejournal.com]

I actually think the Devil has a chance at getting him on all the deadly sins. He accepts the challenge obviously because he is envious that the Devil has this fiddle and his greed makes him want it for himself. As you said once he gets the fiddle he will be filled with pride knowing he is the best that ever was. In the years to come he will likely become a famous star falling into the world of sex, drugs and the like (lust, gluttony, and likely sloth once he's rich and famous). And with all that publicity of the golden fiddle it's likely to be stolen causing much wrath. Really, the Devil probably made the best deal of his life.

[tyroticon.livejournal.com]

Clever, but but the Devil only wins if Johnny fails to ever absolve himself of his sins. Ol' Nick's got pretty good odds on the long game, but he might have better luck just killing Johnny right after the contest.

Wrath seems unlikely, though. Anger, maybe, but they're not the same thing.

[jamesq]

In the context of the seven deadly sins, wrath and anger are synonymous - wrath simply being an archaic term for anger, just like avarice is an archaic term for greed.

Yahweh (in the current mythology) has an infinite capacity for forgiveness, provided the person seeking forgiveness is sincere. Thus your correct that killing Johnny immediately after the contest would be the Devil's best bet. Still, I think Old Nick would appreciate the delicious irony of someone's beating the devil once leading to their overall downfall. He's probably back off to see if the seeds he's planted find fertile ground.