In the short story “The Devil and Tom Walker”, published in 1824 by Washington Irving, a conversion from an illustrative, descriptive tone to a revealing tone is a technique the author uses to give the reader an insight into the selfishness and greed of the character Tom Walker and his wife. Many literary elements are used in writings from this period in time and even writings from the present in order to convey a lesson, or moral, for the person reading to take away from the piece of literature. Washington Irving was one of these authors, and the use of literary elements are found in this particular short story. Dismal imagery, harsh irony, and ominous symbolism are all portrayed in this story in order to show how greed can lead to corruption
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The many occasions in The Devil in Tom Walker where harsh irony is shown is satire and is meant to almost make humor out of how stupid or unusual the reactions, attitudes, or actions that come from both Tom and his wife. An instance where this occurs is when Irving describes what Tom found in the woods after his wife had taken it upon herself to go speak with the devil. In the story, Washington Irving states that although no one is even sure as to what had really happened to Tom’s wife, when he finds an apron with only a human heart and liver wrapped up in it, he immediately assumes that these belong to his wife and she had gotten into a fight with the devil and this was all that was left of her. An example to show Tom’s greediness is shown in this exact scene; “Tom consoled himself for the loss of his property, with the loss of his wife, for he was a man of fortitude. He even felt something like gratitude towards the black woodman, who, he considered, had done him a kindness.” (pg). This situation shows obvious, harsh irony because in a normal case, someone finding their own wife’s internal organs wrapped in what looks like her apron would worry the caring husband, but in Tom and his wife’s situation, they do not care for one another and Tom literally states that joy was brought to him when he found out that his wife was dead. Tom is such a greedy man that his wife has just been brutally murdered and is only thinking of himself and how happy he will be now that she is no longer there to bother him. Irving also writes about the condition that the findings were in saying that they were grouped with clumps of hair that seemed to be from the woodsman (the devil) showing that the wife must have fought back in some way against the devil. This is irony because of how stubborn the wife is, that she would even put up a fight and try to argue with the devil
The many occasions in The Devil in Tom Walker where harsh irony is shown is satire and is meant to almost make humor out of how stupid or unusual the reactions, attitudes, or actions that come from both Tom and his wife. An instance where this occurs is when Irving describes what Tom found in the woods after his wife had taken it upon herself to go speak with the devil. In the story, Washington Irving states that although no one is even sure as to what had really happened to Tom’s wife, when he finds an apron with only a human heart and liver wrapped up in it, he immediately assumes that these belong to his wife and she had gotten into a fight with the devil and this was all that was left of her. An example to show Tom’s greediness is shown in this exact scene; “Tom consoled himself for the loss of his property, with the loss of his wife, for he was a man of fortitude. He even felt something like gratitude towards the black woodman, who, he considered, had done him a kindness.” (pg). This situation shows obvious, harsh irony because in a normal case, someone finding their own wife’s internal organs wrapped in what looks like her apron would worry the caring husband, but in Tom and his wife’s situation, they do not care for one another and Tom literally states that joy was brought to him when he found out that his wife was dead. Tom is such a greedy man that his wife has just been brutally murdered and is only thinking of himself and how happy he will be now that she is no longer there to bother him. Irving also writes about the condition that the findings were in saying that they were grouped with clumps of hair that seemed to be from the woodsman (the devil) showing that the wife must have fought back in some way against the devil. This is irony because of how stubborn the wife is, that she would even put up a fight and try to argue with the devil