The Devil Plant

The Devil Plant was short, and twisted; two things that I rather enjoy in a short story. This tale is one of revenge and foliage. Lyle Wilson has taken the timeless tale of violent retribution, and added a relatively contemporary twist; the concept of violent, almost anthropomorphized plant. This idea was made famous in the 1960’s film The Little Shop of Horrors. The two stories are remarkably similar, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that The Little Shop of Horrors is either based upon, or a parody of The Devil Plant. In both the short story and the b-movie, the protagonist allows an almost sentient plant to feed upon human flesh. The main differences between the two are that in Devil Plant, the tree isn’t exactly sentient; his consumption of human flesh is less of a conscious decision and more of an impulse or reaction.

I enjoyed this short story. Aside from being the forerunner of the man eating plant idea, this story also delvers a compelling tale of revenge. The protagonist is beset upon at every turn by his childhood friend, Silvela. The two are supposed to be friends, and yet we see Silvela commit numerous atrocities towards the main character for his own personal gain. Twice Silvela uses his genius to befriend the establishment that our protagonist owe his allegiance to, and then profits at the expense of this establishment, getting away without any notice by incriminating the protagonist. If this isn’t enraging enough, after destroying the protagonist’s career and reputation in two different continents, Silvela proceeds to follow our hero to Australia, and steal the love of his life from him. I was genuinely angered that Silvela, a man who is supposed to be our hero’s friend, would apparently go out of his way to seek out the protagonist, and ruin his life wherever he travels. By the end of Devil plant, I desperately want to see Silvela brought to some form of justice. This is one of the reasons why I enjoyed this story so much; there is a great back story that establishes a simple but powerful relationship between the two characters. We then get the buildup wherein we know Silvela will soon meet his demise. Finally, the viewer (and protagonist), may enjoy the gruesome death of the unscrupulous Silvela