Its Raining… Women.
While “The Devil” does contain a death, it very quickly gravitates to the ever-present issue of women, a.k.a. sex. So, bringing in from my previous knowledge of religion, and the fact that the story is titled “The Devil”, I am assuming that Eugene is going to find himself dancing with the devil when it comes to lust and adultery.
Women are viewed pretty much as objects in the eyes of Eugene and the watchmen. The watchmen describes a potential match for Eugene as a “tasty morsel” (pg.213). Also, Eugene has very loose standards for his women; requesting that they be healthy, attractive, and that she “be as little fuss as possible” (pg.211-213).
Sex is an extremely important part of Eugene’s psychological makeup. He needs it so bad he doesn’t even care about much else. For example, when he finally ‘beds’ the peasant woman “he [does not] even see her thoroughly” (pg. 214). His mind can only be freed by this physical act, which is ironic because I think people like to try and separate the physical from the mental, when in this case they undoubtedly overlap and interact. By relieving the discomfort of not having a woman in the countryside, Eugene can now proceed to do his business.
– Christina
I see much of the same patterns here as I did in Death of Ivan. I just can’t help but keep thinking how trite Tolstoy is being. He just keeps bringing up extremely overdone exhausted topics. It’s hard to get involved when I know exactly what’s going to happen like a page ahead you know?