In the short stories “A Softer Devil” by Derek Robertson and “Spilled Salt” by Barbara Neely, the titles of the stories affect a possible suggestion of the stories development, they depict the two offenders through their symbolism and also give the stories a religious meaning. First of all the beginnings of the short stories start with an event that, regarding the titles of the stories, could possibly turn into an opposite direction. The beginning of “A Softer Devil” starts with a very negative happening: “Toby shot the dog that always barked at him when he came home from school”. This act seems to be extremely cruel and evil because of its senselessness, arbitrariness and emotionless description that you could say this boy must be the devil, as a personification of the evil himself. But regarding the title and the words “softer devil” the reader might suggest that there is more about Toby, he might not be as evil as it initially seems and that the story might take a positive development.
“Spilled Salt” begins contrary as Kenny enters his mother’s house with the words “I’m home, Ma”, which delivers a positive image like a child coming home. As spilled salt is a common understanding for bad luck or an evil omen, the reader could guess that the story might take a rather negative development. The titles of the stories also depict the two offenders through their symbolism. Toby’s behavior has often very evil sides for which the reader does not get a real explanation. His crime of shooting a dog without any evident reason, makes Toby seem very cruel right from the start. Also the narrator calls him “a total asshole” or “a total fuck-up” to describe his negative character. But as an omniscient narrator he also has access to his inner thoughts and feelings in which we can see a boy who tries to hide these but sometimes shows a softer side of himself.