The Devil's Company

READING GROUP QUESTIONS

AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

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At the beginning of The Devil’s Company, Benjamin Weaver states he is able to “adopt the most plastic of morals … when the circumstances dictate.” How does disguise help and hinder him in this endeavor? Does this mentality hold true for Weaver throughout the novel? When does “acting as something he is not” conflict with doing what he believes is right? What does he do? Does he “preserve [his] soul”?

After Jerome Cobb first meets with Weaver and outlines the terms of his “plan” and demands Weaver’s cooperation, Weaver leaves thinking he has a choice, though he later realizes “I had no choice.” How does Cobb secure his control over Weaver? Consider the role and manipulation of choice and freedom in the novel.

Benjamin Weaver’s uncle, a fellow victim of Cobb’s machinations, suggests to Weaver, “You cannot fight him if you don’t know who he is or why he would work so diligently to render you toothless. In revealing to you what he has in mind, he may also reveal to you the secret of how to defeat him.” How does Weaver use this advice to his advantage and what does he discover to be the secret to unraveling Jerome Cobb?

Jerome Cobb’s nephew, Hammond, believes that “darkness holds far greater terrors than any monstrosity, no matter how terrible, revealed in the light.” Do you think this is true? Does Weaver? How is disguise used in the novel to engender fear and/or power?

How does Weaver gain entry into the East India Company “fortress” and Ambrose Ellershaw’s trust and confidence?

Does Benjamin Weaver have a weakness? Why can he not “content [himself] with a state of ignorance” as Cobb suggests?

How do the challenges facing the “Devil’s Company” and their competitors—greed, globalization, competition, capitalism, corruption, innovation—resonate today? How have these challenges evolved?

Ellershaw explains to Weaver that “no arsenal and no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men.” Do you agree? Does Weaver? How is this statement ironic, given Ellershaw’s role in the East India Company and The Devil’s Company?

Discuss the anti-Semitism Weaver is confronted with throughout the novel.

When Weaver inquires after the insurance policies taken out on his life, he is asked, “How can it be diabolical when it is the law?” Consider the “oceans of absurdity” that this question invokes for Benjamin Weaver.

What would the executives of the East India Company argue drives commerce, need or desire? How do they—and the capitalist framework—manipulate these two factors?

How does Ellershaw defend the “Honorable Company” and why does Thurmond suggest they instead call themselves the “Devil’s Company”? How do the “Company men” view the “Government men” and vice versa? Do they have any of the same interests? What does the legislation of 1721 symbolize in their different spheres? How do both sides attempt to rectify their positions? Discuss how their positions relate to freedom, diplomacy, “the wealth of the nation,” and “the natural evolution of things.”