What Is The Literary Criticism Of The Devil And Tom Walker

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.

Irving theme in this short story is that all action have consequences. In the story Tom tries to trick the Devil by becoming more pious that others who have religious their entire lives. However, it does not work, because one day the Devil comes back for Tom “holding a black horse, which neighed and stamped with impatience” (Irving 359). This small segment of imagery supports the theme, because the horse is anxious and impatient as if it has waited a long time to be here and take Tom away to what he deserves. The reader can imagine a horse that is rearing and ready to go. It demonstrates that even if Tom protected himself for a little while the Devil still came back to dispense the consequences for the deal he and Tom made together. Tom worked as a usurer to gain a large fortune that he wanted, just so he could flaunt it in an ostentatious manner. However he wanted to get this money easily by bartering with the Devil to find an agreement that made him rich quickly. He did get this money but he suffered consequences because of it, and when the black horse swept him away all of his earthly treasure disappeared as well. “All his bonds and mortgages were reduced to cinders”, his chest of gold and silver was “filled with chips and shavings”, and where his two horse were “two skeletons lay in his stable” (Irving 359). He was never able to enjoy the money he made, because of the actions he took to gain it. On the other hand, Tom never did enjoy his money, because of his stingy nature. Tom wanted all the money he could get his hands on, but he never wanted to spend a dime. In addition with the added fear of the Devil coming at any time Tom was always on edge and at peace. He made a deal with the Devil and the Devil made him suffer the consequences of his actions. Old Scratch and his black horse carried him off after Tom agonized under the unknown time the Devil’s return.

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

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.

In conclusion, Tom Walker is a man known as miserly, brave, parsimony. Tom Walker character describes him as a hypocrite man with a clapper clawing wife. He shows his actual personality by following the footsteps of the devil. Furthermore, Tom is a man who greed for something that is not great. ‘’ The Devil and Tom Walker’’ by Washington Irving proves what kind of unfaithful man he is from the challenges and obstacles that was face. This story mainly tells about many actions that brought forces upon

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.

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.

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.

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 characterization and setting in “The Devil and Tom Walker” reveals how the characters really are. To begin with, Tom and the devil made a deal, but Tom didn’t want to keep it. The devil trusted Tom with this deal but, after a while into this thing he had going Tom didn’t want to keep it. This reveals how everyone can’t be trusted and how once you get into things its hard to get out of sometimes.

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 all the books ever read, there is always one character who has made an important, life-changing choice. In The Devil and Tom Walker, by Washington Irving, Tom Walker was that character. He was a sad man, he was always miserable in his marriage and with his wealth, especially. While walking through the woods one day, Tom encountered the devil and they struck up conversation. The devil proposed to him a deal, Tom may have the treasure buried at an old Indian fort, which will bring him all the money he desired, for only his soul and must become a usurer for the devil. At first, Tom did not take the deal. Howver, when he got home that day he spoke to his wife about the encounter and she insisted he make the deal. His wife went looking for the devil that night to reconcile the deal, but the devil killed her before she got the chance. After

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

To begin, in the short story “The Devil and Tom Walker”, awe of nature is used to