Never Bet the Devil Your Head: A Moral Tale by Edgar Allan Poe (841): A Review

Title: Never Bet the Devil Your Head: A Moral Tale

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

Publication Year: 1841

Pages: 13

Rating: ⭐⭐

Genre: Satire, Supernatural, Moral Tale

Source: Ebook

Edgar Allan Poe’s satire often elicits criticism for its perceived lack of morality. When you point this out, you should expect him to respond without shame or consideration. If you criticize his stories, you get what you deserve. The moral of the story is literally "Don’t bet the Devil your head." It begins with the concept of morality in narratives and provides various examples until it leads to the main story, which conveys a rather absurd lesson.

The story features a character who lacks moral virtues and a friend who attempts to guide him toward salvation. How many of us can relate to having friends like that or being that friend? Profanity is a central issue here, and ironically, the mischievous character is named Mr. Dammit. He uses various curse words but ultimately settles on the phrase, “I’ll bet the Devil my head.” What could possibly go wrong? As expected, the arch-character, the Gentleman Devil, remains undiscovered until it's too late, and the bet results in the Devil literally claiming the character's head.

I do have an issue with one line in the story. Have you ever experienced this? You’re reading an English book, and your brain is so accustomed to English that it processes everything on the page as if it is in English, even when it switches to another language. This happened to me, but to my surprise, it was Farsi written in the English alphabet in Poe: “Khoda shefa midehed — Heaven gives relief.”

First, Mr. Poe, your translation is incorrect, although it’s close. The phrase means "God heals." Interestingly, we use this expression both literally and figuratively. When someone is ill, we say it to convey that God will heal them. Conversely, when referring to someone behaving foolishly or irrationally, we use it sarcastically to imply that they need a miracle to be healed by God in order to act rationally. Does it make sense in your language?

Additionally, this phrase is not specifically used by “Mussulmans” (again Farsi pronunciation) unless one considers Iranians to be exclusively Muslim. The expression is used only in Farsi, not in Arabic at all. I'm genuinely curious about how Poe acquired his vast knowledge about the world; his reading list must have been extensive. This man cites books, authors, philosophers, events from all over the world. Did he have access to internet those days or was he a time-traveler?