Among the many books Walter Mosley has authored, “Devil in a Blue Dress” is the first and the most towering since 1990 to date (Mosley 6). The novel`s mysterious plot is founded on the main character, one Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins
who is introduced as a daily laborer but would eventually transform into a detective at a private firm. In “Devil in a Blue Dress,” the element of “money” is one of the essential platforms of upon which power and influence are vested. For instance, when Daphne Monet makes away with 30 thousand dollars, she is capable of commanding not only dignity and respect but also reverence among her peers. In fact, her name is a primary tag that portrays her as a romantic and French like person of a heightened social class. Consequently, the reference “Claude Monet” of the impressionist painter is accorded to her title in most occasions (Mosley 45). On the other hand, the last name of Daphne is reflective of money. Typically, a critical look at the back page of the novel indicates a misspelled the last name of Daphne as “Money” instead of Monet. For the most of the text, the author has created a chain of activities across scenes that compel characters to go around looking for Daphne, hence alluding her diminished absence to the value of money, which people spent most of their time soliciting in real life. Mr. Carter on his part is an influential individual because of the money he has, and though he wants Monet to give him comfort as a “mother,” he can use his money to tame the repugnant Albright. Indeed, the lacking charisma and courage to deal with Albright is compensated by the ownership of too much money to easily challenge Albright and spent enough on Easy to indulge him in fantasy and mystery. Therefore, to exhaustively discuss the theme of money in the book “Devil in a Blue Dress,” it is not only essential to demystify how every character's behavior was related to money but also critical to highlight how money became a devil in this book.
Money in the book, “Devil in a Blue Dress” is the core factor that determines relationships, influences the behavior of individuals, and it is hence the element that Mosley primarily uses to develop other themes in his work as well as the plot of the text. Indeed, there are many intensive and appealing activities that characters get engaged in, but somehow one of them often finds a reason to bring them on a platform of financial aspiration by discussing money matters. For instance, Joppy tells his peers that there is no doubt that Mr. Albright will never give an excuse for any activity that leads to financial gratification, despite the challenges pertinent to the business at hand. Joppy says, "Wherever they're a little money to be made Mr. Albright got his nose to the ground ... An' he don't care too much if that money got a little smudge or sumpin' on it neither" (Mosley 78). Therefore, money cannot be substituted as a theme in this text, because Mosley makes the networking and emotions of his characters centered on financial gains.
At the beginning of the book “Devil in a Blue Dress,” the person of Easy is expressly connected to the realization of establishing a livelihood of predictability and stability. Because Easy spent his time as a soldier, exposing himself to danger in the South, he claims that his social segregation should not be in vain, instead, he longs to gain providence, own property, and gain economic independence. Indeed, it is this private indulgence with himself, a form of meditation that transforms Easy into an intelligence detective at the end of the book 39. Critically though, it is not the ambition for the job that compels Easy to become an intelligence detective, rather, he needs money primarily. Therefore, the end (money in this case) justifies all means by which Easy has to spend his life, and not the loss of his job at Champion (Mosley 21). The relationship between Mr. Albright and Easy, on the other hand, is limited on monetary gains, and while one would think Easy needs a job, all his engagements are targeted at generating money to pay his mortgage. In comparison to Dupree, it is clear from the text that he makes more money than the protagonist. However, it is again apparent that Easy has more desire and reverence for money than does Dupree.
The “devil” vested in money is the primary reason for major deaths in the novel “Devil in a Blue Dress” save for the passing of Teran. The character of Joppy is such that he is an extremely outrageous, emotional, and violent; a personality that compromises his sobriety to eventually kill both Coretta and Howard Green. Nevertheless, it is not only the irrational personality that leads to the slaying of his victims. Instead, when Daphne seeks security from Joppy and delivers him one thousand dollars, it is this money that compels Joppy to kill in order to protect Daphne. In a similar case, Richard McGee meets his death because he boycotts to pay Junior, and he simply kills him. Typically, Coretta and Howard are killed because of the extended argument with Joppy. However, for the case of Richard`s death, Junior goes after him, hunting Richard down for the forfeited payment, and eventually stubs his victim with a butchers knife to death. Mosley makes the circumstances of death and hence the killing of his characters a diverse adventure in the manner and cause, but one thing remains common; killing for money (Mosley 102). When the book ends, Mouse boldly claims that he was the cause of the death of Mr. Albright, Joppy, and Frank Green; just to compensate for the mess of Easy. Nonetheless, a careful approach to the issues reveals that Mouse does not kill his victims for any other reason but hoping for payment (money) from Easy. No wonder, just from the beginning, even Easy notes that his death would be accomplished by Mouse if somebody offered him money in return. Therefore, money is the real “devil” the title of the book “Devil in a Blue Dress” symbolically alludes to. On the one hand, money becomes a devil in the “Devil in a Blue Dress” because of the character of individual personalities. All people who in murder this novel have a great and an insatiable allure for money for example. Only if compromise and reason could be given room, then junior and Joppy could have had no reason to kill their victims. On the other, Mosley creates extraordinarily volatile and compromising environments, which leave his killer characters with little options other than to crave for money, and would stop at nothing including butcher others to get money.
Work Cited
Mosley, Walter. “Devil in a Blue Dress - Walter Mosley - Google Books.” 2017: 1–143. Web.
