In the novel The Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley, the author creates a sense of selfishness in the characters. The writer uses a simple style to create the environment of the book and illustrates that terrible situations will bring out the survival instinct. Readers get to see how the main character Easy Rawlins takes a questionable job to pay off his house mortgage. Mr. Albright hired Easy to find out the whereabouts of Daphne Monet. As events unfold, Easy discovers new information about why he was hired to find Daphne. He uses the new found information to his advantage by holding onto it to earn more money. The main protagonist, Easy, illustrates an underlying theme of how most people only do things that benefit themselves and some who are willing to go beyond conventional limits to succeed. The novel begins when Easy Rawlins is sitting at "Joppy's bar", an old dilapidated bar, it illustrates the main character's economic situation and the fact that he is trying to drink to dispel his problems. Accept the job offer of a man who has a grip “like a coiling snake” ...