Comparing Romanticism In The Devil And Tom Walker

In both short stories, “The Devil and Tom Walker”by, Washington Irving and “The Minister’s Black Veil”by, Nathaniel Hawthorne religion is used to expose the hypocrisy of Tom Walker who pretends to be Christian and the Puritan townspeople who judge the minister for exposing his secret sin while sinning themselves. Tom Walker decides to make a deal with the devil for financial gain. Once Tom Walker reaches old age he realizes he is going to hell and tries to figure out a way to cheat the devil. He begins going to church obnoxiously praying and judging the churchgoers for how they choose to practice their The “quiet Christians” would be praying modestly to themselves while Tom would be obnoxiously praying trying to one-up them. Irving compares Tom’s newfound Christianity to his job as a loan shark.

The Devil and Tom Walker is a short story published in 1824 by Washington Irving. The story takes place during 1724 in the colony of Massachusetts when Tom Walker, who is a greedy miser, happens to meet an old lumberjack in the nearby swamp. This lumberjack is known as Old Scratch and offers Tom immense wealth, specifically the treasure of Kidd the Pirate, in exchange for Tom’s soul. Tom initially needs time to ponder the offer, but eventually accepts it after his wife dies trying to fulfill the deal herself. Tom lives his whole life as an usurer, while still being just as cheap as he was, eventually getting taken by Old Scratch and fulfilling his end of the bargain. The Devil and Tom Walker is an allegory to many topics such as temptation,

For example, one of the American romanticism characteristics is used in The minister's Black veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I

In each work of literature we’ve read this unit are all written by romantic writers. In “The Devil and Tom Walker”, the author Washington Irving, uses imagination, and nature that are traits of romanticism. The author displays nature as the setting of the story, and uses the nature to bring to story alive. He also uses imagination to bring the story alive, and emphasize of the description of the Devil. Another work of literature we read this unit was “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe. In this work of literature the trait nature, is also used, as well as the traits emotion, and shunning of society. Nature is used again as the plot at the beginning of the story, and resembles an important symbol in the short story. Poe also

“Traded my soul for rock and roll. I made a deal with the devil. Fortune and fame, fire and flames. I made a deal with the devil”. This lyric is a originates from the song “Deal With The Devil” by Winger. This song and lyric annotates how this boy sells his soul to the Devil to obtain what he yearns for [money and fame]. The topic of selling your soul can interpret to losing your self conscience of what is really important in the world. This lyric and concept very much kindred to the famous folktale of “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving. The folktale in a nutshell is the journey of a zealous man who sells his soul to the devil to retrieve fortune. Hence, “The Devil and Tom Walker” epitomizes a folktale based on the inclusion of the folktale characteristic stereotypes, unlikely events, and lessons to be learned.

Tom Walker was on his way to his home in the big city of Boston, MA. He was headed home from a busy and stressful day of work. On his way, Tom started feeling reluctant about going home. He knew as soon as he had gotten home, his wife would start whining and complaining. Tom was miserable with his wife because all they did was fight and argue. Instead of going straight home, Tom decided to take a little detour. As he was driving, Tom noticed a path he’d never seen before, so he decided to go down the path. Once on the path, the sky suddenly turned dark. While Tom was driving, he came to a point on the path that was blocked by a tree. Tom got out of his car to remove the fallen tree from the path. Attempting to pick up the tree, Tom notices something carved into the bark. Hand-carved into the bark of the tree was the name “John”. Tom read the name multiple times in his head before coming to the conclusion that it was his co-worker. Suddenly there was a rustle in the bushes and out of the darkness Tom heard a voice.

The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows plenty of American Romanticism in a character. For example, there is an exaggerating death at the end of the story. "Mr. Hooper's face is dust; but awful is still the thought that it mouldered beneath the Black Veil!"(Hawthorne 17). This shows American Romanticism because the main character died with the veil on and never took it off, now that's pretty exaggerating to keep it on until the end of your life. Another way this story can show American Romanticism is because the minister is trying to hide all the sinners of the world by wearing the black veil. Everyone has sinned so that the veil should be on everyone's face because everyone has sinned and should wear it like he does.

In “The Devil and Tom Walker” the devil was a tall, dark man, and was very scary. He also appeared out of nowhere. They called this devil, “Old. Scratch.” Tom Walker was a very selfish, self centered man, and in a horrible marriage. Tom Walker was in a very unhealthy marriage and did not love his wife at all. In fact, he was actually very grateful that his wife had died in the middle of the story.

In both “The Devil and Daniel Webster and “The Devil and Tom Walker, they both came face to face with the devil. They had different strategies on how to confront the devil. In the two short stories, the resolution, the depictions of the devil, and the role of religion or the saving grace are the similar and different things.

The Romantic period was a time period in which people changed their views of the fine arts, which in turn affected their work. Some people Including Washington Irving did not agree with the view of the Romantic period and made fun of it in their work with some humorous stories. Irving was a well know writer in the late 18th century and early 19th century who grew up in New York. From the beginning of his life till the end, he was a funny man who loved the fine arts. Irving was originally a lawyer, but later he left his judicial career and followed his childhood dream of being a full-time writer, writing some poems which upon closer observation, it can be seen that he makes fun of the Romantic period. Romanticism was a time which had many unique attributes, but Washington Irving did not agree with those attributes and made fun of those ideas through his writing.

The romanticism was the response to the Industrial Age. That movement began in America from 1820 ’s to 1870’s. Washington Irving was part of that movement which began in America after Revolutionary War. They tried to separate them from the rest of the world and create a country as a nation. They used their chance of individuality and creativity, and they addressed economic social and many other concerns by their writings. While Washington Irving was writing “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (1820), it was the time when Great Britain reached independence and all over the world were going many changes. In this story, he described the small village with its rural life where everything remained the same far from the immigration and improvement of the

Washington Irving was the author of “The Devil and Tom Walker”, in his early life he began to study to be a lawyer, but soon falling away from that finding he had more interest in traveling and writing. Irving’s work including, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle”, became known as an important part of American heritage today. The setting was in New England, the year 1727, just at the time that earthquakes were prevaled. Around the area of where Tom Walker had lived with his wife, Tom had found an old Indian fort which he chose to rest at on his way homeward. The main characters in “The Devil and Tom Walker” are obviously the Devil, “a great black man...neither Negro nor Indian” and Tom Walker who was a “miserly fellow”. Another

Tom Walker is the main character of the story, he is a hypocrite and works for the devil. Tom Walker has a wife who is greedy and is later tempted by the gold that was offered to him and ends up killed.

Dark Romanticism is a form of writing that consists of human nature, sins, death, and an abundance of evil to create fearful images that toy with the emotions of its readers. Edgar Allan Poe, a professional at creating such stories, used symbols within his stories to further his Gothic Romantic theme. In the short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe wrote, “I know not how it was – but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was

The Romantic Movement started in Germany and then it moved all around the world and became well known in England. It was a reaction to the Enlightenment and the focus on the human reason. It was a reaction towards the Industrial Revolution and Neo Classical Movement as well.