Background
The theme of the bottle imp can be found in the German legend Spiritus familiaris by the Brothers Grimm as well. At the time of publication in 1891, the currency system of the Kingdom of Hawaii included cent coins that circulated at par with the U.S. penny.
The novel reflects Stevenson's impressions gained during his five-month visit of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1889. Part of the storyline takes place in the little town Hoʻokena at the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii, which the author visited. In a scene which takes place in Honolulu Stevenson mentions Heinrich Berger, the bandmaster of the Royal Hawaiian Band. The name of Keawe's wife refers to the Hawaiian word kōkua, which means help. In 1889 Stevenson also visited the leper colony on the island of Molokaʻi and met Father Damien there. Therefore he had a first-hand experience from the fate of lepers. Several times Stevenson uses the Hawaiian word Haole, which is the usual term for caucasians, for example describing the last owner of the bottle.
The story could be considered as both a continuation of and a rather light-hearted counterpoint to the theme of selling one's soul to The Devil, manifested in the numerous depictions of Doctor Faust as well as in such stories as "The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving and "The Devil and Daniel Webster" by Stephen Vincent Benet.
Read more about this topic: The Bottle Imp
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