The Devil Of Tom Walker And Th Essay

I strongly agree the statement “Washington Irving found in legend and folklore a view of the natural world colored by emotion, by superstition, and by the ancient belief that supernatural beings inhabit the wild places of the earth. He wrote stories that illustrated old truths about human nature and the dramatic possibilities of the American landscape.” Although Irving wrote over twenty volumes, including essays, poems, histories, biographies, and more, in class, we have focused on his fiction. Irving dispersed many beliefs and legends of his time, and the past, into his stories. He also made great use of American themes in these literary pursuits. Such details along with existent people and events interlaced in his fanciful tales are some of the reasons I find his work so distinctive and enjoyable.

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 original story by Washington Irving starts out in a small town of Sleepy Hollow. Irving paints an image of bountiful crops, beautiful scenery, and

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.

Irving sheds light on Tom’s hypocrisy in the deal that was made with Old Scratch. When Tom and Old Scratch were negotiating the deal, Old Scratch said that Tom would become a slave-trader. Tom refused this offer, but after his wife died, he accepted the offer as a moneylender. Irving represents Tom’s hypocrisy in his choice of accepting the offer. Since Walker did not want to become a slave trader, he became a moneylender who profits by exhausting others out of their money through shady business deals. Another indicator of his hypocrisy is the deals he demanded to keep with his customers. Of course the deals he made with those customers, gained him money. Those people were drained of all their hard-earned pay. In the midst of taking peoples’ money from them, he thinks it is acceptable to deceive the devil on the conditions of their deal which reflects on his hypocrisy. Another indication of his hypocrisy is when he repudiates that he had made even a penny from an “unlucky land-speculator for whom he had professed the greatest friendship.” His hypocrisy goes hand and hand with his greed yielding him the same

In the story, “The Devil and Tom Walker,” there is a humorous way of looking at serious topics. Washington Irving shows his thoughts on these topics through the characters in this story. He attacks ways of living and social ideas that he thinks people should live without. In this story, Irving criticizes violence, greed, and false piety.

I chose “The Devil and Tom Walker” for my fictional story. (The plot is below.) The story begins by showing you the background of the story, and describing how miserly Mr. and Mrs. Walker are. Then it shows Tom talking to “Old Scratch” (The Devil), who then offers Tom all the treasure of Capt. Kidd, for a few conditions. Tom goes home to think about the offer, where his wife tells him to take the offer. After many fights on the subject she goes to make the bargain herself, the devil tells her to return the next night. She goes but doesn’t come back, a day after she goes missing, Tom goes looking for her where he finds her apron with a heart and liver in it. Tom makes the deal with devil next time the meet, conditions and all, one of the conditions is, he has to use the money to start a brokers shop. Years go by, Tom fearing the bargain he made with the devil will catch up with him, tries to be a Christian, he carries a Bible everywhere he goes. However, while arguing with one of his client’s, Tom says in his wrath: “Devil take me if I have made a Farthing.” Next comes three loud knocks on the door where Tom sees the devil again and is taken away by the devil. Lastly, all of Tom’s wealth and assets disappear forever. Such is the plot for “The Devil and Tom Walker.”

Washington Irving was one of his country's first professional writers, and one of the first American writers to gain an international reputation. A major part of Washington Irving's legacy was his ability to draw on European folk tales he heard throughout his trips to Europe to create a fabricated history of his home state in some of his most famous literary pieces such as “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Author’s Background and Historical Context Washington Irving, named in honor of George Washington, was born on April 3, 1783 in Manhattan, New York. Irving grew up in a Scottish and English household next to a large Dutch population that had inhabited the area of New York City where he grew up. Young Irving would listen to the Dutch neighbors tell of their overseas adventures which

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

Andy Stanley once said, “Greed is not a financial issue. It’s a heart issue,” (Brainyquote). Washington Irving was an american short story writer who wrote many stories. In “The Devil and Tom Walker” Irving tells about a poor man named Tom Walker who is offered the greatest riches in the world if he sells his soul to the devil. Throughout the short story Tom Walker is stuck between a rock and a hard place. This results in him making hard decisions and dealing with the consequences. Irving does an amazing job of writing Tom’s emotions into a very believable character. All that Tom goes through opens up this new type of character that is not usually seen, and helps to show a different worldview. Having the different worldview portrayed even affected how I saw the story and now how I see my life. Irving’s bluntness to how greed can cause people to do terrible things and not think twice about it really helped to change the way I viewed the world. Knowing that greed drives people to crazy lengths was never really something I believed, but seeing it in such a realistic manner really brought to light the truth of that idea.

Literacy Analysis The Devil and Tom Walker written by Washington Irving is an American version of a European tale repeated through the ages. The story is about a person who sells his soul to the devil for power and wealth. The devil's conversations with Tom used manipulative tactics. These tactics were aimed at burning desires to get rich. Overall his use of language continues to characterize Dark Romantic writing.

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 his short story, Irving, the author, demonstrates the “Selfish acts in Romance” throughout an intimate relationship by stating, “Ichabod Crane had a soft and foolish heart…; and it is not to be wondered at, that so tempting a morsel soon found favor in his eyes; more especially after he had visited her in her paternal mansion” (Irving 21). He goes on to demonstrate Ichabod’s greediness and confusion in his relationship. In “The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow”, Washington Irving’s short story of Ichabod Crane’s pursuit to win over Katrina Van Tassel’s heart and money which symbolizes Irving’s theory of selfishness throughout society. Ichabod is already counting how he thinks that one day he will get everything he wants. And that he is ready to turn his back on

Furthermore, “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving displayed the secretive value behind greed, selfishness, and a facade view on the essentials of life. Not only does Irving do a magnificent job of providing symbolism within the story, but he also provokes deep thought regarding materialistic values. The main and most influential character within the tale was, in fact, Tom Walker. Throughout the tale, Tom fears the unknown, and he fears pedestrians uncovering the mask of his greedy personality.