Devil

The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson, and “It’s a Question…” by Tom Stafford both answered the universal question of whether humans are born good or bad. The Devil in the White City is about a killer’s mentality and mindset being bought to justice. “It’s a Question…” is about researchers who ultimately determine whether humans “have a basically good nature that is corrupted by society, or a basically bad nature that is kept in check by society. ( IAW, 3-4)” H.H. Holmes in The Devil in the…

The Devil in a Blue Dress exhibits multiple hard-boiled crime novel characteristics, Walter Mosley uses these characteristics to influence the reader’s perspective on racial issues. Mosley creatively uses racial differences to illustrate the challenges facing minority classes in 1940’s America. The novel is set in Los Angeles, following the Second World War. Racial disparity was still a very real issue at this time prior to the Civil Rights Movement. Mosley shows the challenges that people…

Of the many works published in the 19th century, Hop-Frog by Edgar Allan Poe and The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving are some of the most well known and thought provoking. Whereas Hop-Frog is a short story about a king, his seven ministers, and the king’s jester, Hop-Frog, who exacts his revenge in a gruesome and ghastly way, The Devil and Tom Walker consists of a greedy man who makes a deal with the devil in exchange for a lavish lifestyle. On a superficial level, these two short…

The Jersey Devil Myth “History books are filled with the names and dates and events which shaped our world.” (House). Myths are tales that help man to understand and explain their unnatural or suspicious experiences on Earth. The Jersey Devil’s history includes a mother with a drunkard husband getting pregnant for the third time; she curses her unlucky thirteenth son by saying let this one be the devil and later forgets about the curse. When the baby was born it transformed and killed its…

their own unique ways. However, in the year 2006, they all combined their efforts and flawlessly co-starred in the blockbuster the Devil Wears Prada. In this hit comedy-drama, Hathaway stars as Andy Sachs, a quirky graduate student looking for a job in journalism. Luckily, she lands a job that “a million girls would kill for;” a job at Runway magazine (the Devil Wears Prada). Once Andy steps into the Runway building, it is apparent that her fashion sense and style is lacking when compared to…

“Romanticism is a movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual.” - Google. Knowing the true definition of Romanticism is crucial to reading. The Devil and Tom Walker (page 151), Thanatopsis (page 166), and from Song of Myself (page 316), are all three staggering poems/short stories that show romanticism. These poems/short stories show emotion, warmth, and tenderness. All three pieces of…

In Luther Man between God and the Devil, Oberon performs an analysis and subsequent presentation of Martin Luther’s theology within a light not previously traditional. Oberon attempts to analyze Luther from within his perspective of the world as he sees it. Oberman argues that two critical elements to understanding Luther in the appropriate context of the medieval age involves understanding his belief in the reality of Satan and that the Last Days were nigh. Oberman claims these two elements…

Moreover, another characteristic of romanticism that connects to the three stories “The Scarlet Letter”, “The Minister’s Black Veil”, and “The Devil and Tom Walker” is individualism. Individualism is shown throughout these stories in different ways. In the story “The Scarlet Letter”, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows individuality in Hester. He showed Hester’s individualism by making her the only one to wear the scarlet letter “A” and also making her different from everyone else. Even though the letter…

David Foster Wallace’s The Devil Is a Busy Man begins with the sentence “Three weeks ago, I did a nice thing for someone” and begins again the conversation that echoes throughout the rest of his book, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, about the narcissistic nature of man. This story which qualifies the authenticity and “value” of a good deed based on its anonymity does so under the idea that if a good deed is made public by someone who did the deed then it was done more for one’s own personal…

society. Nevertheless, the author’s subtlety plays an important role in hiding these humorous statements all along his master pieces. Irving’s short story The Devil and Tom Walker is no exception to this satire-use pattern. The tale narrates the story of a stereotypical American man named Tom Walker who trades his soul for money with the devil. The novelist creates humor in his story by satirizing the institution of marriage and human ambition. One of the first things Irving satirizes in the…