Teiyette and the Devil

In Teiyette and the Devil, we are told an old Guadeloupan funeral story. We're told about this story by a 17 year old girl. In the story we meet a young girl who is very picky about who she wants to marry. The purpose of this story is to warm young girls, universally, that just because a man is handsome doesn't mean they're a good guy. The author uses several writing styles, which I think are in an attempt to secure the story in the reader or listeners mind. The author uses prose for most of the story, then switches to poetry when something really needs to be emphasized.

A a great example of this are when the goat and the pig come around looking to meet the young girl. Obviously, a goat and a pig didn't come looking to marry a human girl nor could they speak. The author both sets the scene, you can assume they're somewhere rural due to the livestock, and describes the men who came. By using barnyard animals with a reputation for being ugly, dirty, overweight, and unkempt, the reader or listener can get an idea of how gross and undesirable these men were.

During the story, we learn that the girl has chosen to marry a devil in disguise. This devil has dressed up in an attempt to win the girl's heart and take her as his own. Her mother warned her that he seemed like he was no good, but the girl chose to lie to her mother and cover up the truth when she discovered it. When the girl is eventually forced to suffer the consequences of staying with the man just because he was so handsome, he began to swallow her whole. "Oh, Mama! Oh, Mama! Bel-air drum! The man to whom you married me, Bel-air drum! Is a terrible devil! bel- air "Oh, Mama! Oh, Mama! Bel-air drum! The man to whom you married me, Bel-air drum! Is a terrible devil! bel- air drum! He's eating me up! bel-air drum!! He's eating me up! bel-air drum!" (p. 3) She cried out for her mother and father, who bother responded that they warned her and she was on her own. The author chooses this time to slip into verse and poetry. The stanzas are repetitive and include verbalizations to sounds. This helps create a pattern and since humans can remember songs better than regular spoken words, this sticks in the reader or listeners mind. Thoe moral of the story is that handsome men can be devil's in disguise and not to fall for their clever tricks and lines. I also think that it's a story warning of staying with a man after you know what a devil he is. Once you see your partner for who they really are, in this case a slime oozing devil, don't ignore that or try to rationalize what they are. Instead we should heed others warnings and do what's best for us even if it means not being with a super attractive guy.