The Devil and Tom Walker

Are Washington Irving’s writings misogynistic or just in line with the times? Washington Irving and his writings are often categorized by their dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. Washington Irving’s works are a combination of both the dislike of women as well as in line with the times of the American Revolutionary Period. In Irving’s time of writing, women were in the background and were subservient to men rather than being equal to men. If the stories were written…

sidewalks was Tom Walker. He was very agitated because his 1996 Toyota Camry broke down earlier that day while he was driving to his job. He finally made it to his small, raggedy apartment where his wife was burning yet another dinner. The moment he walked in the door he started nagging about her inability to cook a decent dinner. The two of them started arguing for hours on end and just about anyone could tell that the two of them have grown a hatred toward one another. The next morning, Tom…

story “The Devil and Tom Walker” death can be seen at the end when the main character, Tom Walker, gets his soul taken by the devil due to his greediness. While greed is actually the main theme within the story, the theme of death can be spotted for a little bit, that is when the devil has come to retrieve Tom Walker. “The black man whisked him like a child astride the horse and away he galloped in the midst of a thunderstorm.” (pg 13) The devil represents death, who came and took Tom Walker…

injury or economically. In the short story, The Devil and Tom Walker, Tom was an avaricious person because he focused too much on materialistic wants that eventually he bamboozled his clients and they would come back stating, “you have made so much money out of me”, with him replying, “the devil take me if I have made a farthing” (Irving 365). When Tom made the deal with the devil he ironically was not expected to give anything back yet, but when tom realized all his greed was at a price it…

something that seems normal, can be evil on the inside. In “The Devil and Tom Walker,” Tom Walker takes the wrong shortcut into a swamp covered with “dark and stagnant pools, the abodes of tadpole, the bullfrog, and the water snake; where the trunks of pines and hemlocks lay half-drowned, half-rotting, looking like alligators sleeping in the mire” (479 Irving). The author creates an ominous setting, which later proves to be the house of the devil (480). The evil of nature paralleling the evil…

The main focus of all my research on Washington Irving, a Yankee living in New York, was to learn how the first American author pictured the world. Irving is widely considered the first American author not because he was the first author in North America, but because he is the first person in America to write stories “by heart”. What I mean by writing with heart was that Irving wrote with a passion, as he considered his work written for the reason of what he loved the most, humor. Irving wrote…

character is feeling that day. When writing stories most writers need to know the world where their story takes place. The way writers make stories more interesting is they move scenes and do not stay in one place. For example the story “The Devil and Tom walker” include a variety of different scenes. Each scene will have an impact on the story. Time is also almost as important as the setting is in a story it helps the readers understand more and can relate to many scenes or how the character…

The Romantic period in American literature was filled with many authors of famous works such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Washington Irving, Hawthorne, and plenty more. This period also consisted of theories and philosophies about life, as well as aspects of life such as human nature. Being that all of these were a major part during the Romantic period in American literature, it’s interesting to find out that romance was not included in most studies of American literature. During the Romantic period…

while lumberjacks hack away at their base. When the tree finally falls it causes the sinner immense pain which continues as they sprout out of the ground as a new tree. CEO’s of major companies that use nature to make money are damned to this level. Tom Sullivan, the founder of Lumber Liquidators can be found here. Friedrich Weyerhäuser and Joseph A. Hardy III, CEO’s of major lumber corporations also reside…

“In place of gold and silver his iron chest was filled with chips and shavings; two skeletons lay in his stable instead of his half starved horses, and the very next day his great house took fire and was burnt to the ground. Such was the end of Tom Walker and his ill gotten wealth. Let all griping mon…