Comparing Washington Irving's The Devil And Tom Walker

“Worldly wealth is the devil's bait; and those whose minds feed upon riches recede, in general, from real happiness, in proportion as their stores increase, as the moon, when she is fullest, is farthest from the sun.” This quote, written Robert Burton, relates to the folktale that Washington Irving wrote. Irving’s story, “The Devil and Tom Walker”, is about a poor man who sold his soul to the devil to gain wealth over night. Thus, the story “The Devil and Tom Walker” illustrates a folktale with the inclusion of the folktale characteristics stereotypes, unlikely events, and lessons to be learned.

A main theme in the short story is greed and its consequences. Tom, a miserable man, is approached by the Devil, also called “Old Scratch”, and he is offered wealth and riches beyond his wildest dreams. In return for this he sells his soul to the Devil. All characters in the story have flaws and none of them are necessarily “good” as each of them are greedy and will go to great lengths to benefit themselves. Tom's desire for wealth is his ultimate catalyst throughout the story and it is what eventually draws the Devil to him. The Devil called to Tom promising “great sums of money buried by Kidd the pirate... All these were under his command, and protected by his power."(pg 9) knowing this would interest him. Through this you can see the Devil tempting Tom with the wealth he craves so much. His own greed being his damnation when he tells a customer "The devil take me...if i have made a farthing!"(p22). Because as soon as he says this the devil comes to collect his dues.Tom's desire for wealth led to the murder of his wife, the selling of his soul, and ultimately his own death. The Devil and Tom Walker is a textbook example of why the temptation of greed should be avoided. Showing how though it may benefit you in the present eventually its consequences will catch up to

In this story we can see many interesting facts about the main character Tom Walker such as his relations with other characters and his own beliefs. In the story we can see how Tom doesn’t accept the deal with the Devil at first, but when his wife dies in hands of the Devil, Tom Walker now accepts to do the deal; however he doesn’t accept because he feels like he has lost everything but because now his wife can’t take away any part of the treasure and now he will do the things he wants for his own good and not to please

The characterization and setting in “The Devil and Tom Walker” reveals how the characters really are. To begin with, Tom and the devil made a deal, but Tom didn’t want to keep it. The devil trusted Tom with this deal but, after a while into this thing he had going Tom didn’t want to keep it. This reveals how everyone can’t be trusted and how once you get into things its hard to get out of sometimes.

In all the books ever read, there is always one character who has made an important, life-changing choice. In The Devil and Tom Walker, by Washington Irving, Tom Walker was that character. He was a sad man, he was always miserable in his marriage and with his wealth, especially. While walking through the woods one day, Tom encountered the devil and they struck up conversation. The devil proposed to him a deal, Tom may have the treasure buried at an old Indian fort, which will bring him all the money he desired, for only his soul and must become a usurer for the devil. At first, Tom did not take the deal. Howver, when he got home that day he spoke to his wife about the encounter and she insisted he make the deal. His wife went looking for the devil that night to reconcile the deal, but the devil killed her before she got the chance. After

When someone “makes a deal with the devil”, it always leads to the corruption of the dealer and their fate of inevitable damnation. The story takes place during in the early 1800s, and Tom Walker agrees to a bargain with the Devil who he encounters while walking through a swamp on his way home. The deal directs him to Boston where he becomes a cheaty usurer and gets very wealthy. Overpowered by greed, Tom even attempts to cheat the Devil, and in doing, so he eventually pays the price. In the short story, “The Devil and Tom Walker”, author Washington Irving uses the symbolism of the swamp, silverware, starved horses, empty mansion, hypocrisy of religion, and covered Bibles to show how greed and selfishness corrupts Tom Walker.

The author of “The Devil and Tom Walker”, Washington Irving, became a famed author of 19th century America. He was born in New York and became one of the first America fiction authors to gain international reputation. Irving began his career writing satire essays, and he is specifically known for his works, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle”. In his work “The Devil and Tom Walker”, he tells the story of a man and woman that lust for greed, to such an extent that they both want and make deals with the devil. The couple will soon find that their selfness and greed will lead them nowhere, but in to the devil’s house. Irving expresses the greed of Tom Walker and his wife throughout the story in the setting, the

Washington Irving the author of The Devil and Tom Walker uses the setting of the story to convey that things with a good appearance can be deceiving and be putrid on the inside. He also creates the right atmosphere for the story, and gives precise details to the audience so they can predict the topic and how it will develop. In addition, he describes each character in a manner that the readers can infer who they are, their personal characteristics, and the decisions that they might make throughout the development of the story. Moreover, he provides a background for each character in order to understand their actions and their ending.

“The Devil and Tom Walker”, written by Washington Irving, is about a greedy man who only wants money and who is very selfish. “The Devil and Daniel Webster”, written by Stephen Benet, is about a man who is sluggish and poor. He also is very cheap and his crops are very unlucky so they are dying. Although these men seem very different, they are alike in at least one way.

The Devil and Tom Walker and The Devil and Daniel Webster are both stories about how a man who is not happy with his financial standpoint makes a deal with the devil. The resolution and depiction of the devil are different in either story. Tom Walker tries to use his little bible and going to church as his saving grace but it does not work out. In The Devil and Daniel Webster, Jabez Stone has Daniel come to the rescue as his saving grace.

Tom Walker was a very greedy man. He despised his abusive wife, so the only thing he really had to live for was the desire of owning things. So when the devil offered a large amount of treasure, Tom was not one to decline. This then led to his damnation to hell. On the other hand, his wife is so much worse than Tom himself. She was all or even more greedy and selfish than interpreted. When Tom didn’t take the offer, she decided to take it upon herself. This then led to her vanishing, yet many think that the Devil took his wife straight down to her damnation.

In Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker”, one’s morals are tested by greed, temptation, and hypocrisy. Tom Walker is consumed with greed before he meets the Devil, and his greed is tested along with his morals. When he goes back to the shortcut after finding out about the deal with him, right before the deal is officially made, he agrees to everything that the Devil wishes to be made part of the deal because he is greedy and wants the treasure hidden by Kidd the pirate. (pg. 282) The way Tom was agreeing to the Devil’s arrangements showed that he wasn’t thinking about what he had to do; he only thought of what the Devil was giving to him, which is also known as greed. (pg. 285)The temptation that the Devil put on Tom tested Tom’s morals

Washington Irving is an American writer in the era of Romanticism who mainly focused on dark romantics. One of his popular works, The Devil and Tom Walker, written in 1824, is a short story based on the legend of Tom Walker , the main character, who exchanged their soul to the devil for Pirate Kidd’s treasure. Irving depicts the main character as a miserly and greedy person who cares for nothing more, but himself, the tone of the story is dark and gloomy, which portrays the daunting and bone-chilling imagery of the story.

Nearly a hundred of years citizens were willing to sell their souls to the devil. In this article the devil and tom walker he has to make a decision with the devil using the characteristics of greed, temptations, and manipulation. Tom walker is a character in this story that has a lot of ambitions. Tom also shows a bad example of selling his soul to the devil and is going to show an important lesson that will soon be learned.

Tom becomes a usurer for the devil, lending money to people and in turn making them poor. He becomes a wealthy man, but over time Tom starts to worry about the deal he has made and he decides to turn to the church. When Tom loses his patience with a land jobber and says, ''The devil take me, if I have made a farthing," he hears