The Devil And Tom Walker Greed

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

Tom Walker is an archetype of greedy husband. “There lived near this place a meagre miserly fellow of the name of Tom Walker” (Irving).

    One the biggest flaws of Tom’s is that he makes horrible decisions. At the beginning of the book he has borrowed many thousands of dollars from mob bosses around the New York area and now they are trying to kill him. "Of course they found you, you idiot! What do you think this is— Manila? You can't just walk away with $100,000 of the mob's money and expect to live happily ever after.” (Dekker 25). His life is quite messed up. He is an unsuccessful author and lives

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

The Devil and Tom Walker is a short story written by Washington Irving. The story is about a legend of a pirates treasure hidden in a swamp and how a miserly man named Tom Walker finds it on his way home through a swamp. When Tom is in the swamp a dark tall man, Old Scratch, who Tom recognizes as the Devil, offers Tom a deal for the treasure. Tom goes home and tells his wife about the deal the Devil gave him, her greedy made her to take all their valuable possessions and go bargain with the Devil for the treasure. When she didn’t return Tom Walker decided to go look for his wife. When Tom was looking for her, he found her apron, liver, and her heart tied up to a tree. After seeing this Tom decided to make the deal with the Devil. The Devil tells Tom that he must do services to the devil for the treasure. He first tells Tom to become a slaver trader; however Tom refuses to become one. Finally the Devil tells Tom to become a corrupted money-loaner, which he agrees to, so he moves to Boston and becomes a moneylender. While at Boston Tom regrets doing the deal with the Devil and tries going to zealous church in a hope to redeem his soul for what has he done; however it was too late for Tom Walker. One afternoon while Tom’s victims were begging him for a delay, Tom lost his patience and his pity and yelled “The Devil take me… if I have made a farthing!" (Irving, The Devil and Tom Walker). Immediately after this statement Tom hears three knocks on his door and the Devil comes for Tom and rides away with him on his horse. The next day Tom’s house and all his belongings are burnt down, and Tom is never seen ever again.

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.

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

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.

Throughout this story Irving condemns greed. In the beginning of the story, Tom is characterized as a greedy man. One way this is shown is when his wife is killed by the devil. She brought many valuable goods to try and make a deal with the devil and she got into a fight and lost. When Tom found out about his wife he was more concerned about the loss of the valuable goods that his wife. Another

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

The choice he made was to sell his soul and start a business for the devil if he was rewarded treasure that had been buried. The want to be rich is what provoked Tom to settle this deal. In doing so, he cost many people all of their money. Tom conned people and left them in despair, and he sold his soul so he can be a rich and mighty man. He had been fooled by the evil of money. Therefore, he will pay for his choices and the actions he committed. Towards the end of this story, Tom begins fearing for his life, afraid that the devil was going to collect his soul at any moment. He aimed to become religious, in hopes that will prevent the devil from coming. However, he did not succeed and was taken away by the devil. The theme Washington Irving was conveying is that money is not worth your life. You can be happy and poor, and rich and miserable. If Tom Walker understood that, he would have led a life without the devil on his shoulder and without the fear of the devil coming to collect

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

In the story The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving, hidden evils and greed are exceptionally important themes. Tom Walker loves the money but he starts to feel guilty and wants to change, but he won’t change.”Your are the usurer for my money. In this way he made hand over hand, and became a rich and mighty man.” This quote displays that he made money, but throughout the story Tom’s greed didn’t change. His greediness became

The author depicts a common demon the human race faces that is greed and society's need for more possessions and money. This is projected throughout the story showing that Paul's family enjoyed living in style yet always lived beyond their means. There is never enough money, causing a great deal of anxiety in the house (Lawrence 221). The family believes that they are