Imagination Individuals taking a journey from the dirty city into the supernatural countryside
Poem/Story/Play Used: The Devil and Tom Walker
The Devil and Tom Walker is definitely a great example of an imaginative story. Being a folk tale, this story has a lot of imagination and naturality, which were big parts of the Romantic period. Tom
Walker was a usurer, lending money to local people in Massachusetts; some days when he walks home from the city, he generally takes a “shortcut” through the wooded areas of Salem and Boston – through the treacherous, woody, mossy, swampy forest. Nature plays a big role in this short story, ipso facto to Tom talking with the Devil and walking alone in the forest outside of town.
Individuality
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.
What is the Tower of Babel? Besides being a big, old building, it is a symbol of the consequence of pride. The plan was to build a tower that could reach the heavens in order to “make a name for ourselves”, but God had different plans. He “scattered them” and “confused the language of the whole world” (Genesis 11). This story is just one of many in the Bible discussing the why the vice pride is regarded as the worst of the Seven Deadly Sins. Both Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker” and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (“The Chase”) contain this theme, and thus provide insight on the disastrous results of pride.
In “The Devil and Tom Walker” they use literary archetypes that represents universal patterns of human behavior or commonly-held beliefs. This story takes place in 1727 in Boston Massachusetts. There are three main characters who are very similar but a little different. Tom Walker is small, greedy, overly confident, and miserly. Tom Walker’s wife Mrs. Walker is selfish, verbally abusive towards Tom, and she is known as a termagant because she nags and complains all of the time. Last but not least old scratch has many other names that have been given to him by his personality, but he is the devil.
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.
“The Devil and Tom Walker” describes the devil in the following way: “he was dressed in a rude half-indian garb, and had a red belt...yet He had a shock of coarse black hair...and bore an ax on his shoulder.” Washington Irving wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker” in 1824, which tells how Tom Walker became rich by working for the devil. Another short story, “Young Goodman Brown,” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in1835, describes Goodman Brown’s woodland tramp with the Devil. The two stories share specific ideas regarding the devil, overpowering minor deviations between each other.
Tom Walker lived in Puritan, New England, a place that is very religious and criticizes wrong doings. Tom Walker worked for the devil, which in Puritan, New England is against their religion. If the people in the town found out that Tom worked for the devil they would have him killed or sent away. Because of these reasons and because the people of the town are quick to judge, Tom worked very secluded. So, in The Devil and Tom Walker, Washington Irving uses detail to portray that Tom is not who others make him out to be, reveal that Tom is gullible, and to convey that Tom worked for the Devil.
During the early 1700s, a traveler met a man in the Massachusetts forest. However, this was no mortal man, but the devil. “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Devil and Tom Walker,” two short stories, both start out in this way. Washington Irving wrote the latter in 1824, which tells how Tom Walker profited through working for the devil. In 1835, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote “Young Goodman Brown,” which describes Goodman Brown’s woodland encounter with the Devil. The two stories share specific ideas regarding the devil, overpowering minor deviations between each other.
A Faustian legend is a story in which a character trades something of great personal value to the devil in order to receive personal gain. Since this type of literature originated in the Fourth Century it has spread throughout the world. Two relatively recent versions of this legend are “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Vincent Benét. These stories show many similarities as well as a few differences. While both Benét and Irving present similar themes in setting of the tales and motivation in the Faustian character, they do differ in the nature of that character and their visual presentation of the Devil.
As people grow up, it is made apparent to them that the Devil is an evil and rather a clever person. The greatest example of the devil in action is when the devil tempts Jesus. As most know, the devil fails to get Jesus to do evil. Jesus is both human and divine while the main character of The Devil and Tom Walker, Tom Walker, is a “meager, miserly fellow”. Unfortunately, Tom Walker is not Jesus so the reader must focus in on Washington Irving’s The Devil and Tom Walker to see just exactly how and when the Devil won his game. Irving portrays to the reader that the devil cannot be beaten at his own game through setting, characters, and plot. As people have seen in sports, the setting of a game (where, when, weather, etc.) can have a big impact on the game. The same goes for The Devil and Tom Walker.
“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.
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
To begin, in the short story “The Devil and Tom Walker”, awe of nature is used to
In both The Devil and Tom Walker, written by American short story writer, Washington Irving, and Young Goodman Brown composed by American novelist, Nathaniel Hawthorne, there is various things that can be interpreted as similar or different in the roles of the devil of each of these short stories. Both stories experiences changes in attitudes and beliefs of the collective people of the day and provoctes the roles the devils play in exposing these beliefs. In both The Devil and Tom Walker and Young Goodman Brown, the devil appears to be an ordinary man, which suggests that every person, including the main characters known as "Tom walker" and "Goodman Brown", of both short stories to have the capacity for evil. The Devil in both stories also
Individualism An individual finds his place in society by exploring their inner selves to find their strengths and their purpose. The works of literature such as “Song of Myself” support the idea of exploring yourself to find out who you are compared to what people want you to be. While works such as What They Fought For and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn support the idea of knowing who you are and where you come from to find your purpose.
Washington Irving also shows the theme of greed by how Tom Walker was a very cheap and greedy moneylender. During the time of this setting in “The Devil and Tom Walker,” people tried to do anything to make money. Joyce states, “while many had a keen sense of business, pothers were unethical in their dogged pursuit of riches (102).” This statement illustrates Tom Walker very. When Tom was discussing the terms of the deal with the devil, Tom wanted to make his interest rate even higher then what the devil origianally planned. Then devil said, “ You shall