Examples Of Romanticism In The Devil And Tom Walker

Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker” illustrates how an individual’s corruption results from their ability to resist temptation, the virtue to act generously, and the self-discipline to perform genuinely. Temptation, symbolized by the Devil and characterized by desperation in this prose, is that catalyst that forces Tom’s proverbial ball to roll. First and foremost, Tom chooses a shortcut home out of ease and lack of time that “like most shortcuts... was an ill-chosen route (280);” along his path of “smothering mud (280)” and “half-drowned, half-rotting [hemlocks and pines] (280)” –likely representative of the comeuppances of giving into temptations–Tom confronts the Devil for the first time and eventually ends up selling his soul

As the novel progresses, Tom transforms from this selfish nature to become a caring person. Several examples of this transformation are seen throughout various chapters. When the Joads are traveling west to California with the Wilson’s, Tom offers to help them when their car breaks down. “Tom said nervously, ‘Look Al. I done my time, an’ now it’s done… Let’s jus’ try an’ get a con-rod an’ the hell with the res’ of it.’” Tom is showing a little more care for other people’s problems, however, he still has a selfish side because he still does not regret killing a man. He knew he had to pay for it by going to prison, but he still believes he did nothing wrong by taking a man’s life. By offering to help out with the Wilson’s’ car, he is on his way to becoming a less selfish person. As the book draws to a close, Tom stumbles upon Jim Casy again, who is murdered in front of his own eyes. As a result, he is thrown into a silent rage and kills another man which causes him to hide in the forest. He realizes that he is a danger to his family, so he sacrifices his safety in order for his family to be safe. ‘“Ya can’t do that, Ma. I tell you I’m jus’ a danger to ya,”’ (391). There is a clear transition from Tom acting selfish at the beginning of the book to him acting completely selfless at the end. This selflessness also contributed to him being a figure committed to bettering the

Both the short stories “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, also “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe, were written in the romantic time period. Romanticism typically contains the ideals of nature worship, nature imagery, as well as nature having an healing effect. Gothic Literature stemmed off of romantic literature which leads to many of the contradictory ideas in both. An example could be that romantics saw imagination while gothic writers saw darkness in the supernatural. Both the authors used very similar elements to make each literary work different but strong in their own way.

Although both The Devil and Tom Walker and Young Goodman Brown address the idea of sinning, Irving uses allusions and Biblical references and Hawthorne uses Foreshadowing and Imagery to express their theme of, no one is perfect, and that it is in human nature to sin.

In Washington Irving’s short story The Devil and Tom Walker, greed is shown to be a terrible trait that comes with many negative affects. Revealed by Irving when he introduced the setting, Tom Walker lived a miserable life isolated with his untrustworthy wife due to his miserly personality, and by this Irving was showing that living a life of greed will ultimately lead to misery. When decisions are being made based on greed and self benefit it will alter one thinking process and help you to make harmful and unintelligent decisions, as shown by Irving represented by greed based decisions both Tom and his wife made. Irvin also illustrated that you can be overwhelmed by greed and it can metaphorically turn

   Washington Irving, in writing "The Devil and Tom Walker", and Stephen Vincent Benet, in writing "The Devil and Daniel Webster" illustrate to the reader the consequences of man's desire for material wealth and how a person's motivation for a relationship with the devil affects the outcome of the "deal". In these two different, yet surprisingly similar narratives, the authors present their beliefs about human intent and motive.

convey both the mood and meaning of the narrative. Irving creates a setting that is

So, the main theme would be just because a person is sad and miserable, does not mean that they can let greed blind them. The author of “The Devil and Tom Walker” uses literary devices like characterization, symbolism, and imagery. Characterization is the way that the author introduces the characters and how the characters act. In the passage, Tom Walker was a very miserable person, he was very selfish, and he often cheated on his wife.

“The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, and “Prey” by Richard Matheson all utilize grotesque or bizarre occurrences and a mysterious nature as their two themes. These authors used these themes for individual purposes that were not the same but all to give a lesson. Washington Irving wrote about how money can’t buy you happiness, Edgar Allan Poe wrote about how you cannot hold on to the past, and Richard Matheson wrote about how you cannot take control of your loved one’s life.

It was also enjoyable because it is well-written and has a good message. The message in “The Devil and Tom Walker” is symbolic. Irving’s lesson is to be charitable and unselfish, or in other words, don’t be greedy. I think the message of the story is something that should be considered an extremely important idea to humankind. Greed is the root of most corruption, both past and present, in our world. If more people were less selfish, the world would likely be a much better place than it currently is. The lesson is presented through Tom’s actions. Tom literally sells his soul to the devil for

Washington Irving is a famous writer from the romantic period. In one his most famous works he uses satire to make his story more interesting. Satire is the attempt to ridicule different aspects of society to spark awareness of change. In the story “The Devil and Tom Walker”, the author criticizes marriage by saying that the Walkers are materialistic and greedy, they don’t care about one another, and they refuse to ever please each other.

Washington Irving was an American short story author during the 19th century. Some of his most famous works are “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “A History of New York.” In addition, one of his most influential pieces was “Devil and Tom Walker.” There are three themes portrayed in the short story. The first theme is greed. Tom Walker and his wife often fight about money and possessions. Whenever his wife obtains new things, she hides them from Tom and goes out to search for more. Tom is greedy as well. He made a deal with the devil so that he could obtain a large amount of treasure that was left behind many years ago. In exchange, the devil would get Tom’s soul. The old stories suggest that the devil guards the treasure left by Kidd the pirate.

In this story “The Devil and Tom Walker “by Washington Irving refills the legend of Faust with a tale of his own. The use of Puritans and Quakers, Tom Walker and his wife, throughout this tale, show character traits of how the two constantly fight and don't tell each other about their own fortunes from being so cheap and greedy. The Old Indian Fort is the treacherous swamp Tom dares to cross through to get back home quicker but along the way discovers the remains of an old Indian fortification after kicking a war skull and unexpectedly encounters the devil. This determines how the rest of Tom's life and fortune will go after doing business with the devil better known as “Old Scratch”.

The hunger for power, world domination, lust, or the greed for money has all been driven by a single individual’s wants. Washington Irving understood that this world is a fallen nation, apart from God’s righteousness. Like many great authors, Irving understood the fallen nature of people and how only the light of Christ could heal the broken hearted. In the analysis of “The Devil and Tom Walker” one can see that Irving makes biblical allusions to parables of greed spoken by Jesus. Irving was born in a puritan era, where the individuals living in that time period where frightened by powers of evil.

“The Devil and Tom Walker” is a short story written by Washington Irving. The short story takes place in Boston Massachusetts with a man named Tom Walker and his wife at a burial ground of an Indian fort in a swamp. While exploring a short-cut home, Tom meets a man known as “The Great Black Man”; who believed in watching over Kidd the Pirate’s treasure. However, the short story portrays components of Romanticism. When analyzing “The Devil and Tom Walker”, characteristics such as feelings over reason, and the power of imagination is found throughout the short story.