If I remember, the devil “bowed his head because he knew that he’d been beat”. So why did the devil give up so easily? Surely the trickster would have come up with some obscure reason for him to win the contest, unless he deliberately lost for an ulterior motive.
He probably would but the important part is the narrator telling us that the devil “knew” that he lost, meaning the devil himself considered Johnny’s crappy performance to be the superior one for some reason.
The devil is declared the loser by the omniscient narrator, so what are the implications there?
If I remember, the devil “bowed his head because he knew that he’d been beat”. So why did the devil give up so easily? Surely the trickster would have come up with some obscure reason for him to win the contest, unless he deliberately lost for an ulterior motive.
He probably would but the important part is the narrator telling us that the devil “knew” that he lost, meaning the devil himself considered Johnny’s crappy performance to be the superior one for some reason.