Prompt: Markheim’s story appears to come to a different conclusion than either Connie’s or Goodman Brown’s; he seems to not be defeated by the devil he faces. If you agree with this statement, explain how he manages this – is it because the circumstances are different, or the devil he faces is, or he himself has qualities that Connie and Brown don’t possess? If you disagree, explain why.
Your Devil is Not My Devil
In Markheim, Markheim manages to remain undefeated by the devil he faces because – unlike Connie or Goodman Brown – he approaches the whole of their exchange differently. Where Connie and Goodman Brown let themselves fall deeper into the devil’s trap, Markheim continually opposes the devil, which ultimately allows him to take from their exchange an introspective look on who he is: someone who hates evil, and will do whatever he can to stop it.
Even the very first time Markheim is confronted by the devil-character, his exchange varies from the way Connie and Goodman Brown approach their devils. Both Connie and Brown, upon meeting someone they both know to be evil (or at the very least not good), do not immediately retreat from the person. They engage with their evils; talk with them; whet their curiosities. While Markheim may engage with his devil, he does so differently; he immediately seeks to remove him from his presence, even if he is not wholly sure who this devil-character is.
In one of his first statements to the devil, Markheim attempts to establish himself not as an evil person, but rather as an “unwilling sinner” (95), something he compares to be as commonplace as humanity itself. Markheim does not initially believe himself to be any sort evil; he excuses his deeds as deeds of circumstance. “I was born and I have lived in a land of giants; giants have dragged me by the wrists since I was born out of my mother – the giants of circumstance” (95), Markheim tells the devil in order to excuse himself for the murder he has committed. Adamant to oppose the devil from the start, Markheim asks him to try to see that evil is something he hates.
Furthering their conversation, Markheim is told by the devil that “the bad man is dear to [him]; not the bad act … And it is not because [he] has killed a dealer, but because [he is] Markheim, that [he] offers to forward [Markheim’s] escape” (97), essentially telling Markheim that he believes him to be an evil person altogether. Markheim now refutes the devil in a different manner. He admits that he is a man who has, in fact, done evil things; however, he is a man with both evil and good in him. Markheim still feels that these evil things he does are the nature of man and his character is ultimately a good one who still hates evil, through and through.
Contrast this with the way Connie and Goodman Brown seem to continue their conversations with the devils: midway through their conversations, both know their devil is, assuredly, some sort of dangerous person. Yet even when they refute their respective devil, they do so in a way that only half-commits to it. Connie stays in front of her barely-protective screen door; Brown keeps on walking despite the air of evil surrounding his devil.
In Markheim’s final exchange with the devil, the devil tries to convince Markheim that his life is doomed to the committing of evil acts, with the intention of winning over Markheim and convincing him that it’s okay to side with the devil. Markheim this time ends up being convinced the devil’s words are accurate, but he instead takes this information and uses it differently than Connie – who gets into the car – or Brown – who still picks up the devil’s snake-head cane and continues on. He even thanks the devil for the realization he has helped him make, “I thank you for these lessons from my soul; my eyes are open, and I behold myself at last for what I am” (99). Markheim, taking what the devil has taught him, decides his final act – despite condemning him to whatever justice the law will have – will be one in which he shows the devil what he has been saying all along: that he does, and always will, hate evil.