Tommy: I had to be up at that there crossroads last midnight, to sell my soul to the devil.
Everett: Well, ain't it a small world, spiritually speaking. Pete and Delmar just been baptized and saved. I guess I'm the only one that remains unaffiliated.
Everett: Well, ain't it a small world, spiritually speaking. Pete and Delmar just been baptized and saved. I guess I'm the only one that remains unaffiliated.
Delmar: This ain't no laughing matter, Everett.
Everett: What'd the devil give you for your soul, Tommy?
Tommy: Well, he taught me to play this here guitar real good.
Delmar: Oh son, for that you sold your everlasting soul?
Tommy Well, I wasn't usin' it!
Tommy: Well, he taught me to play this here guitar real good.
Delmar: Oh son, for that you sold your everlasting soul?
Tommy Well, I wasn't usin' it!
(Clip is right here for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgcWfVvT_UM)
That last line is golden comedy to me. But under closer scrutiny, Tommy's decision to make a pact with the devil is pretty dark. Would you consider it worth to trade your soul for something temporary like fame or power? In fact, what does happen to Tommy in the end?
In case you guys don't already know, Tommy is based on a couple of blues singers, Robert and Tommy Johnson, who are rumored to have also sold their soul to the devil for really good guitar skills back in the early 1900's. They certainly aren't the first people who have made such a bargain with Satan. Pacts with the devil have been a pretty key cultural motif in a lot of Christian folktales. Throughout history, some painters, war generals, doctors, and even priests have all been apparent victims of the devil's wiliness. Most of the time these people meet moralizing ends, with the person making the pact facing eternal damnation and all that jazz. But sometimes, the adventurer ends up out smarting the devil at his own games, often on a technicality.
At first, it looked like Tommy fell within the first category. When he's about to be lynched by the KKK, he says himself that "I don't think nothin' is gonna save me now. The Devil's come to collect his due." He's now gonna suffer from eternal damnation and burn in hell for the rest of time, right? Well, not exactly. Through the aid of Everett, Delmar, and Pete, he manages to escape with the boys. Later on he plays guitar with the squad at the Stokes Gala Dinner, and finds what we all thought was Penny's lost ring in a rolltop desk he was floating on during the flood. Pretty standard stuff, no real hint at eternal damnation. In fact, he seems to get away pretty clean at the end of the movie. So who knows? Maybe the devil is lenient on his trade deals sometimes. And even if the devil does collect his due at a later date, it shouldn't matter too much right? After all, Tommy "wasn't usin' it!"
Haha, yeah I like the points you made and the humor that you pointed out. I also found that line at the end that Tommy said a little comical. It seems like in the moment he thought there was nothing better to do - so he sold his soul. But later on when he's in a situation of trouble, he gets scared and knows that nothings going to save him. But the twist of events there is interesting and keeps us wondering why it went the way it did. Tommy sold his soul, but didn't seem to lose anything from that- though the almost-killing that he experience twice was probably enough. And we also don't know what happens to him later on, but yeah I think that part is interesting to think about.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that it seems as if Tommy is going to more or less "get off." It is perhaps indicative of the irreverence of the Coen brother's work that this normally punished action is treated so casually. However, there may be a reason for why Tommy is getting so lucky here. In class, we talked about Sheriff Cooley potentially being the Devil incarnate. In that light, the penultimate scene by the McGill cabin in the valley is a little like the devil coming once again to collect his due. Even though Tommy hasn't done anything wrong, Cooley intends to execute him. However, the flood allows to once again escape scot-free. So perhaps he will get away with it after all, especially if the devil drowned.
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