The end of
Bart Sells His Soul
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There's an especially beautiful way this episode and
Bart Gets An F relate to Bart's personality. In both episodes we see both the more sensitive side of him and the less worried side of him; the boy with bad behavior, mischievous and proud of himself. He
is Bart, the popular and fun kid in class who always looks for ways to rebel against any form of authority. The beginning and the end are mirrored both ways: with the boy up to mischief as usual, seeking his own enjoyment, and the carefree way in which he sells his soul to his
best friend when they discuss the concept of the soul.
And what is the soul for Bart? Well, it's just the reason why his friend would rat him out to Reverend Lovejoy. It's just a story for children. One of the many lies that parents tell their children to scare them (he clearly doesn't take what his friend says seriously).
And this is where
Lisa comes in.
Bart thought what his friend said about the soul was nonsense. And his sister though? She is simply someone naive. He was just leaving the scene after accepting that he was scammed out of the five dollars. While his sister tries to explain the concept of the soul to him. He
still doesn't realize how important that is, until events begin to happen to him that make him question it.
Who is the first (and only person) to accompany Bart in this? His sister. She is the first to notice the loss of "his sister's humanity", she is the one who tries to cheer him up and is the one who constantly reminds him of his mistake. And that's why the ending is cathartic: seeing this selfless child rethink the definition he had of the soul. It's no longer just nonsense. It's a battle against himself, something he doesn't fully know, but he recognizes the importance of it once he loses it.
Like
Bart Gets An F, he has a change of attitude once he becomes aware of the consequences of his actions. And just like
Bart Gets An F. It is a battle that he is fighting alone; his family sees the effort and the fact that he is trying, of course. However, the catharsis comes from that fact: that we know that he is
trying, when we see that he does care and we know how bad he is having it. In
Bart Gets An F his family
recognizes that effort, however in
Bart Sells His Soul they do not. No one knows what he's going through and the moment he explodes his father simply sees it as an opportunity to eat his spaghetti (and Marge is just there). It is an internal battle against himself. The others are ignorant or simply see him as a monster (Bart trying to negotiate with Ralph to give him his soul).
It is the moment in which this child, carefree about life, collapses and cries; the vulnerable side of him, childish and scared of losing and not being able to find (or hell the fact of not knowing who could have it) that concept that her sister calls
soul. As uncertain and unknown as it can be. It's the moment she simply asks for help from the last person she would ask for help, God himself. It's such a powerful moment and it is because we
know what Bart feels: we know he's alone throughout the episode fighting this philosophical struggle, we know what he feels about losing his soul, and we know he feels completely isolated from everyone else. (the entire part of the island). And his sister is that ray of light - the solution to his problem -one of the most beautiful acts to come out of their relationship. Unexpected as it may be, but what it adds is knowing that Lisa was always the first (and only) person who accompanied Bart throughout this episode. She may have always had the plan to help her brother and we don't know, but the point is that she was always
there and the ending cements that.
Bart: "There's no change in your piggy bank."
Lisa: "Not in any of the ones you know about."
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