On the Devil's Court

Joe’s father, Dr. Joseph Faust Sr., is a brilliant, intense scientist. His cutting-edge gene-splicing experiments bring him international acclaim, earning him the Albert Lasker Award. Even as the scientific community heaps praise upon him, tabloid newspapers spin him as a Hitleresque mad scientist who is bent on redoing natural processes. To Dr. Faust, the criticism seems absurd, and he has little patience for those who cannot visualize the potential benefits of his scientific advances.

Dr. Faust is emotionally distant from his son, whom he continually attempts to force into replicating his career path despite Joe’s disdain and resistance. Though quite athletic himself, Dr. Faust is oblivious to Joe’s love of basketball and his ability on the court. At the same time, Dr. Faust cannot understand why Joe does not appreciate his work and his accomplishments. This tension comes to a head when Joe unpacks his angry feelings toward his father to a tabloid reporter.

Once the tabloid story breaks, Dr. Faust’s health begins to decline. His serious heart condition becomes a major element in Joe’s life. Dr. Faust, however, has an awakening moment after Joe confronts his lack of caring. The doctor, for the first time, begins to attend Joe’s basketball games, and at the end of the story he opens up to his son more than he ever has before.

Joe’s mother, Ella, is a beautiful artist who had a career as a sculptor before Joe came along. She still readily transforms clay into beautiful works, though her preferred subject is somewhat controversial: She sculpts young, nude men in the family home.

Ella is a communication bridge between Joe and his father. Unlike Dr. Faust, she is more invested in Joe as a person and as a basketball player. She is somewhat more willing to allow Joe to enjoy freedom of choice. However, the one time she goes out of her way to trust Joe’s judgment, deciding to allow Joe to attend a party with his sketchy companion Ross, the result is disastrous, with Joe winding up riding home drunk in a police car. Joe’s mother strives throughout to achieve and maintain connection with Joe. She goes to bat on his behalf with Dr. Faust on several occasions.

The question is, is the devil a character in On the Devil’s Court or not? The devil is frequently mentioned, beginning in the opening sentence of the book, and his influence and actions are assumed throughout, though he speaks no lines and is not seen in human form or any form apart from some eerie shadows. The story presents some evidence of the presence of the devil in literary ways that traditionally suggest the presence of his malevolence and power: A basketball player is mysteriously injured at the beginning of the season, allowing Joe to move up to the varsity team; Joe shoots 10 straight perfect baskets—once in practice and once in a close game; taking the SATs, Joe notices that the handwriting on his scratch sheet does not match his own. At the end of the perfect season, however, there is no great malevolent event to indicate that the devil is taking his payment. Instead, almost everyone in the story seems to have learned and grown. Deuker seems to want the reader to decide whether the devil was truly present.

One of the interesting things Deuker does with the devil has to do with his name. Throughout the book, the devil is only referred to by that name: the devil. In Doctor Faustus, the devil is referred to as Mephastophilis. Indeed, no character in literary history has more names than the devil: Satan, Scratch, Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness, and so on. It is quite unusual from a literary standpoint that Deuker only refers to him as the devil. He may do so in an attempt to avoid having to deal with theological interpretations of the story, which may be why he includes no religious figures and makes virtually no mention of God or angels.

No last name is ever given to Ross, even though at the midpoint of the book, the police ask Joe if he knows Ross’s last name. Like Joe, Ross is a high school senior who is quite good at basketball. He turns out to be the star player for Loyal High School. In many ways, he is Joe’s rival, who cares less about winning and more about being just a hair better than Joe.

Ross is a trickster who relishes crossing over the edge of acceptable, legal behavior just to see if he gets caught. If he does, he is unconcerned. His goal is to live for the moment. Ross’s father is mentioned as being mostly absent and equally unconcerned. For Joe, Ross seems the epitome of the “public school” kid: carefree and looking for something risky to do. Joe and Ross are emotionally driven apart when Ross vandalizes the Fausts’ home on Halloween.

Ross may be seen as an emissary or even a prophet for the devil. He constantly tempts Joe with invitations and behaviors that Joe finds unacceptable but intriguing. When Joe’s parents forbid him from seeing Ross and demand that Joe attend Eastside rather than Loyal, Ross tries to get Joe to defy them and go to Loyal. In a sense, it is Joe’s exposure to Ross that prepares him emotionally to make a deal with the devil. 

Like Joe and Ross, John Lustik is also an excellent basketball player and high school senior. A student at Eastside, John’s father is a colleague of Dr. Faust at the University of Washington. John is the essence of a good kid who is studious, dedicated, and good-hearted. Misbehavior and dishonesty are simply not in John’s DNA.

John attempts to pave the way for Joe at Eastside in many respects. He is concerned about Joe’s experience. When the tabloid article about Joe’s family appears, it is John who counsels him to be aware of it. As the basketball season progresses, John develops a great admiration for Joe and encourages him to step forward as the true leader of the basketball team, even when that means ignoring Coach Raible. John makes many haunting, prophetic statements about Joe, such as saying the team will succeed as long Joe excels. When Joe’s deal with the devil expires, John comments that Joe is “losing [his] touch” (175).