The Devil And Tom Walker

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.

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

In the nineteenth century, growing industrialization led people to impersonal, greedy, and selfish lives. As a reaction against this situation, romanticism emerged; this artistic movement offered people the place away from the corrupted society. During this era, people favored untamed nature instead of unscrupulous society. Upon a people’s encounter with Romanticism, they enjoyed an enthusiastic burst of feelings. This era is characterized by not only an outpouring of emotions but also themes of imagination, fantasy, emotion, nature, superstition, individuality, mystery and the supernatural. Among them, nature, imagination, and superstition theme were the most beloved theme during this period, particularly demonstrated by give stories of The Most Sublime Spectacle on Earth, Nature, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Devil and Tom Walker.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, written by Washington Irving, fits nicely into the Romanticism period due to its eloquent descriptions and detail to the nature around the village, the attention and focus on the main character and the addition of ghost stories and superstitions. These pieces come together to build a story of conflict and adventure. To further describe how all of the pieces fit together, we must first begin with the author. Washington Irving, born in 1783, was a well-traveled and well-educated young man. He dabbled in the areas of law, family business and even a diplomat for Spain but found the most success in his writing. Irving was considered the first author to write American Short Stories (Irving Biography). The two he is most well-known for is Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was written in 1819, contains elements from light romanticism and humor (Dincer 219). The piece is about a young man by the name of Ichabod Crane whom tries to win the heart of a young lady by the name of Katrina Van Tassel. This story takes place in a small rural

“Lead me not into temptation”... but in all honesty who hasn't given into temptation? Many will give into temptation even though we know it is unwise. But why? Why do we have a desire to do something even though we know what we are doing is wrong? Because sometimes we cannot help it. We are often weak and give in. Examples of temptation can be seen all throughout literature and everyday life. Temptation is inevitable and can corrupt even the best of people.

A dark forest, full of supernatural events, mystical powers that one cannot even imagine! These are just a few elements in “The Devil and Tom Walker” written by Washington Irving during the Romantic Period. During this period, authors wrote stories with similar characteristics. Irving includes the characteristics of individuality, the supernatural and love of nature in his fascinating story.

“The Devil and Tom Walker” was written by Washington Irving. Washington was a very famous American author. Washington Irving was born in New York on April 3, 1783. In his childhood he only went through a basic education. During this time, he showed interest in reading and writing (Washington). In 1815, Irving moved to London to work for his family’s business. But, the family business closed due to failure. After that

Washington Irving found inspiration for his short story in the German legend of Faust, which was a story of a man making

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 short stories “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” were written at very different times but can be seen as similar stories. The depictions of the devil, the role of religion, and the resolution of each story were very different.

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

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.

In the short story "The Devil & Tom Walker" by Washington Irving, the main character's fate is going to hell because of his wrong decisions in life when he sold his soul to the Devil for wealth. Washington Irving reinforces his message about why you shouldn’t make decisions that may damn your soul with the use of romantic literary elements and satire. Religion was widely written about during 1824, the year “The Devil and Tom Walker” was written, due to the large religious population and the fascination with the Devil as an evil wandering spirit. When writing, Irving combines characterization with mood/setting to perpetuate the theme of romanticism in the story for the reader's mind.

   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.

“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.