This methodical, boring and quiet little borough is devastated by the arrival of a devilish figure playing a big fiddle who comes straight down from a hill, goes into the belltower, brutally attacks the belfry-man and rings thirteen o'clock, to the horror of the town's inhabitants.

However, in that Poe mocks the town's ridiculous traditions, it can be interpreted that the devil is a violent force of change, originality and creativity in an otherwise stagnant environment.

Some have claimed the story to be political satire making fun of the United States President Martin Van Buren, who was of Dutch descent like the inhabitants of Vondervotteimittis.

"[1] Critics often compare the tale to another New York satire, A History of New-York, written by Washington Irving under the pseudonym "Diedrich Knickerbocker".

For his adaptation of "The Devil in the Belfry", Debussy said he wanted to create "a happy blending of the real and the fantastic".