# R explained — The Devil’s Dictionary

> Chapter companion for The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

This chapter presents a series of cynical definitions for words beginning with the letter R, including 'Reverence,' 'Revolution,' 'Riches,' 'Righteousness,' 'Romance,' and 'Rubbish,' among others. The entries satirize politics, religion, social class, and human folly, often through ironic contrasts and mock-scholarly asides.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Duplicity

The definition of 'Righteousness' satirizes the hypocrisy of enforcing virtue on others, and 'Reverence' reduces it to a dog-like attitude.

### Politics and Power

Definitions like 'Revolution,' 'Rabble,' and 'Recount' critique political systems and the misuse of power.

### Human Folly and Self-Deception

Entries such as 'Rational,' 'Reality,' and 'Reason' mock human self-deception and flawed reasoning.

### Social Class and Inequality

The definition of 'Rich' highlights class conflict, and 'Riches' contrasts views of wealth from different social perspectives.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator provides the definitions and commentary throughout the chapter.

### Father Gassalasca Jape

Referenced indirectly as the source of a quotation in the definition of 'Righteousness' (Bishop Rowley).

### Andrew Carnegie

Quoted in the definition of 'Riches' as saying 'The reward of toil and virtue.'

### James F. Bowman

Quoted in the definition of 'Riches' as saying 'The savings of many in the hands of one.'

### John Elmer Pettibone Cajee

Quoted in the definition of 'Riches' as saying 'A gift from Heaven signifying, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."'

### Dr. Samuel Johnson

Referenced indirectly in the definition of 'Rime' as a source of the spelling 'rhyme.'

### Shakespeare

Referenced indirectly in the definition of 'Romance' as a great novelist who 'laid waste their powers.'

### Carlyle

Referenced in the definition of 'Romance' as saying 'Your novelist is a poor creature.'

## Key lines

> Revolution In politics, an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment. Specifically, in American history, the substitution of the rule of an Administration for that of a Ministry, whereby the welfare and happiness of the people were advanced a full half-inch.

Revolution is just a sudden switch from one bad government to another, and in America it barely improved anything.

_Satirizes the American Revolution as a minor change in governance._

> Riches A gift from Heaven signifying, 'This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.' — John D. Rockefeller The reward of toil and virtue. — J. P. Morgan The savings of many in the hands of one. — Eugene Debs

Wealth is seen as divine favor by Rockefeller, as earned merit by Morgan, and as stolen from the many by Debs.

_Contrasts different class perspectives on wealth._

> Righteousness A sturdy virtue that was once found among the Pantidoodles inhabiting the lower part of the peninsula of Oque. Some feeble attempts were made by returned missionaries to introduce it into several European countries, but it appears to have been imperfectly expounded.

Righteousness is a fictional virtue from a made-up land, and missionaries failed to explain it properly.

_Mocks the concept of righteousness as absurd and poorly understood._

> Romance Fiction that owes no allegiance to the God of Things as They Are. In the novel the writer's thought is tethered to probability, as a domestic horse to the hitching-post, but in romance it ranges at will over the entire region of the imagination—free, lawless, immune to bit and rein.

Romance is imaginative fiction unbound by reality, unlike the novel which is constrained by probability.

_Praises romance over realism in fiction._

> Rubbish Worthless matter, such as the religions, philosophies, literatures, arts and sciences of the tribes infesting the regions lying

Rubbish includes all the cultural achievements of various peoples.

_Dismisses entire fields of human endeavor as worthless._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/chapters/r
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/chapters