Every day we encounter opposition and it comes in several different ways. Most of us have this impression that we aren't quite good enough, and we struggle to find value in a world that all too frequently reminds us of our own inadequacies. We constantly hear the voice of the "devil" whether it comes in the form of a cruel joke, a dirty look or simply a short glimpse into our own imperfect reflection. The Devil you Meet is a short story about two people who are lost in a world that does not appreciate them very much. One of these men is Harry an overweight New Zealand truck driver who wishes that his life was different. He wishes that he didn't eat so much, that he wasn't so "fat" and that he had a different job. But mostly Harry wishes that things were better at home, that he was kinder to his wife, that he was a better father and that he could love his family the way he wanted to. The world is not good to Harry - too many voices telling him that he's not okay so he hides himself away. The other man is Heung, an Asian immigrant. Heung's world is not good to him either but he doesn't hide away he fights against it. Faced with trying to make it in a world full of discriminatory glances and racial taunts, Heung instead embraces a life of crime. The deeper he goes the worse it gets and Heung's life spirals out of control after he accidentally shoots the woman he loves in a robbery that goes bad. This is the world and these are the characters in the story and we follow them on one fate filled day when their lives collide with a bang. The story centers on the question of redemption. Can a bad person like Heung do something good? And what does it take for this to happen? It also explores the human condition, the way like Harry we search for things that are out of reach, often not realizing that the best things in life are already there, right under our nose.
