12 - Adrian's Devil

Summary

WHAT ZEITBLOM CALLS “THE DOCUMENT,” which he claims to have found in Adrian's papers after his death, is the account Adrian wrote of his conversation with the Devil and is found in chapter 25. This “document” and its counterpart, Adrian's final address in chapter 47, appear to constitute the only evidence in the novel that Adrian has sold his soul to the Devil. As I argue below, this is not an accurate reading of the text. “The document” is part of the subtext of the novel, not part of Zeitblom's story. It must be read with an open mind and a cautious resistance to, rather than a blind acceptance of, Zeitblom's influence. It is an intrusion, Adrian's alternative explanation of what happens.

The conversation is Adrian's revision of the implications of what is happening around him and his role in these events. He recognizes the opposition to his situation as demonic and dramatizes his account, personifying his opponent as the Devil. Zeitblom is puzzled by this, because he rejects the possibility that such views are those of the Devil (DF, 295). Therefore he suggests the idea that, since Adrian is clearly speaking with someone, it is not the Devil at all, but someone else, removing the Devil from the scene entirely. In chapter 1 he makes the point he so often makes, but applies only here, that Adrian never knew the name of the person he was talking to (13). In other words, Zeitblom denies that the views expressed in “the document” are the views of the Devil.