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Sean Berube Profile picture
@SeanBerube4
Aug 30 • 12 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X
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You never want to make a deal with the devil - but if you do, pray for a loophole!

Goethe’s Dr. Faust is the story of a man who sold his soul to the devil, and lived to tell the tale

Here’s what it can teach you about life, happiness, and outwitting Satan himself…🧵Image
The story begins in Heaven where the Devil makes a bet with God:

I bet I can corrupt your favorite human being - Dr. Faust

God takes this bet, believing that Faust’s soul will remain righteousImage
On Earth, Dr. Faust is a scholar who is dissatisfied with life

He’s well educated but unfulfilled, yearning for true happiness

Searching for a solution, he turns to studying the dark arts

Not much later Mephistopheles (Satan) appears, offering a deal... Image
Satan’s terms are simple:

I give you power, BUT if you find happiness, I get your soul

Faust accepts this deal, desperate to escape his meaningless lifeImage
Faust first searches for happiness in romantic love

With Satan’s help, he seduces a beautiful woman named Gretchen

The affair brings great scandal, however, leading Gretchen to her ruin

Faust regrets the affair, and realizes romance cannot bring true happinessImage
Faust then turns to larger ambitions

He seeks happiness through politics - becoming advisor to the Emperor

With Satan’s help, he saves the country from a crash, wins wars, and proves a wise statesmen…

Yet he laments a life of glory isn’t fulfilling eitherImage
Finally, Faust uses Satan to enjoy a life of mysticism

He meets many Greek mythological heroes, and even fathers a son with Helen of Troy...

Yet Faust laments not even mysticism and unworldly bliss can make him happy

Distraught, his heart grows wickedImage
In old age, Faust rules over land bestowed to him by the emperor

His heart now hardened, Faust asks Satan to steal more land owned by two peasants

Satan obliges - murdering the peasants to Faust’s despair

Overrun with guilt, Faust has an epiphany of what true happiness is...Image
Seeking to repent, Faust meditates on his last ambition:

Build a utopian society that frees mankind from suffering

He envisions such a society, and sighs, finding a moment of true happiness

On cue, Satan leaps in to steal Faust's soul…Image
However, God intervenes and saves Faust… but why?

Faust lost his bet to Satan, but Satan lost his bet to God - he couldn’t truly corrupt Faust

Though Faust lived a life of debauchery, his heart never truly abandoned The Good:

He died wishing for the good of others...Image
Thus Faust teaches that true happiness is the redemption of a pure heart

Coincidentally, this is how you "outwit," Satan:

Not with a clever head, but a loving soul

Redemption and happiness is possible for all, even the wicked, but only if you never stop striving for The GoodImage
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More from @SeanBerube4

Sean Berube Profile picture
Aug 23
Lord of the Rings revolutionized the fantasy genre and inspired millions

But what inspired Lord of the Rings?

To help him write the novel of the century, Tolkien pulled from an obscure collection of Norse mythology

Here are the 10 myths that inspired him most… 🧵 Image
Voluspa

If you ever marveled at Tolkien’s world-building prowess, read Voluspa

This poem is a grand narrative of Norse Mythology that spans the creation of the world, the history of the Gods, and the prophecy of end times

It helped give shape, beauty, and form to Middle EarthImage
The Volsunga Saga

Arguably, this story birthed all of LOTR, as it inspired its prequel The Hobbit

It has one of history's most famous dragon slaying tales, in which the hero Sigurd must slay the evil dragon Fafnir

Likewise, in The Hobbit, Bilbo must defeat Smaug the DragonImage
Read 12 tweets
Sean Berube Profile picture
Aug 2
Joseph Campbell’s concept of “The Hero’s Journey” argues all great heroes follow the same archetypal myth

From the Odyssey to Star Wars and even Lord of The Rings, there’s one universal story that unites all heroes

Here’s what it looks like…Image
The Hero’s Journey states heroism is about ordinary people reaching their potential through adventure

You’re not born heroic, you become heroic

To become a hero, you must first answer the call to your life’s adventure…Image
The full journey consists of 12 stages (see below)

To simplify the cycle:

The hero, living an ordinary life, answers a call to adventure, finds a mentor, conquers an ordeal, and returns home wizened

Your old self dies so that your true heroic self can be bornImage
Read 15 tweets
Sean Berube Profile picture
Aug 1
Shakespeare, Tolkien, and Lewis were inspired by the same 3 writers

Their work shaped over 2,500 years of Western literature... yet most people have never heard of them

Here are the 3 men who, whether you know them or not, changed the entire course of literature...🧵 Image
First up is Aeschylus, hailed the father of tragedy

He wrote an estimated 80 plays in his lifetime, though tragically only 7 of them survive today

His works ask:

Where is their justice in a world of unjust suffering?

This is best addressed in his masterpiece, The Oresteia…Image
The Oresteia follows Orestes, trapped in a dilemma:

His mother has murdered his father

Tradition says he must avenge his father, but the Gods forbid Greeks from murdering their own blood

This story ultimately asks - is justice objective? If so where does it come from?Image
Read 15 tweets
Sean Berube Profile picture
Jul 25
John Kennedy Toole has one of the saddest stories in literary history

He devoted his life to writing, but was rejected by everyone and took his own life

Little did he know, his last manuscript would soon be published, sell millions, and celebrated as an American masterpiece...Image
Born in 1937, Toole was raised middle class in New Orleans

He was highly intelligent, skipping 2 grades in elementary, writing a novel at 17, and receiving a full scholarship to Tulane University Image
In adulthood Toole’s achievements continued:

- He graduated Tulane with honors
- Received his Masters at Columbia
- Became a professor at age 22

By all accounts, he was happy with a bright future ahead of him... Image
Read 17 tweets
Sean Berube Profile picture
Jul 19
Thomas-Alexandre Dumas is the most inspiring man you’ve never heard of

Born a slave, he went on to become France’s greatest general alongside Napoleon… and that wasn’t even his best achievement!

He actually inspired France’s all time greatest novel, written by his own son…Image
Dumas was born in Haiti, 1762, of mixed descent

His Father had big ambitions for him to succeed in life, but there was a problem:

Due to his African mother, Dumas was a slave and denied rights

To free him, his father devised the unlikeliest of plans…Image
His father sold Dumas to a fellow Frenchman

How was this helpful?

The Frenchman would take Dumas to France:

Slavery was illegal there, so he would be free by default

His father, meanwhile, used the proceeds of the sale to accompany his son in FranceImage
Read 14 tweets
Sean Berube Profile picture
Jul 17
Most literary greats have terrible marriages… but Vladimir Nabokov was the exception

His 50+ year marriage to Vera is one of history’s most celebrated love affairs

Here are some of the most touching excerpts from the love letters he wrote to his wife: Image
“My darling Vera, each letter I write to you is imbued with the echoes of my heart. The way you understand me, the way you support me, the way you inspire me—these are the things that keep me writing and dreaming.” Image
“you are the only person I can talk with about the shade of a cloud, about the song of a thought — and about how, when I went out to work today and looked a tall sunflower in the face, it smiled at me with all of its seeds.” Image
Read 13 tweets

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