When did people start getting accused of being witches and wizards from their neighbors, family members, or friends? Why would someone accuse others of being witches? All the questions are asked and examined by Emerson Baker. The author of The Devil in Great Island is Emerson W. Baker. Although, he goes by his nickname “Tad”.
Tom Walker comes across the devil when walking through the woods on his way home. The devil reels Tom Walker in by speaking of money hidden away, the devil tells Tom Walker he can help him obtain the money on certain terms. We know Tom Walker is greedy because on page three hundred and fourteen, lines seventeen through twenty two, "...there lived near this place a meager, miserly fellow, the name of Tom Walker. He had a wife as miserly as himself: they even conspired to cheat each other. ..
The Devil and Tom Walker Retold 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.
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”.
The selling of one’s soul to the devil is caused by one’s goal to obtain something of great value like, fame, fortune and power. Which leads one to getting hurt or losing everything. The story and the movie had various motivations, by dealing with the consequences. Foremost, In Washington Irving's “The Devil and Tom Walker” demonstrates his motivation of greed by dealing with the devil.
Characters in stories sometimes follow a theme when it comes to their traits. These traits are called archetypes. Archetypes can be as simple as a villain or hero. They can also be used to portray unfathomable human characteristics that exists in everyone. Characteristics such as greed, lust, envy, pride, sloth, and gluttony are examples.
“The Devil and Tom Walker” and “The Devil and Daniel Webster”-- these Faust legends tell stories of ordinary men with thirsts for wealth and luck only in exchange for their very souls. Both were written in different time periods, where certain events and happenings influenced each of the stories and their conflicts. Washington Irving wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker” during a time of economic boom (1824). Stephen Vincent Benet wrote “The Devil and Daniel Webster” during a time of economic depression (1937). Despite the stories’ titles, both have different resolutions, depictions of the devil, and saving graces in the end.
In the short story titled The Devil And Tom Walker,Washington Irving explains that no matter how hard life is going to never sell our soul. For instance, Tom wanted to save his wife but in ordinary to save her Tom had to sell his soul. Irving’s asserts that walker had to sell his store to save his wife from dying. The author’s purpose is to convince that the audience should should never sell their soul no matter the situation. The author writes in an serious tone for the audience to realize that selling out isn’t the right thing to do.
Matthew Lewis’ The Monk and Ann Radcliffe’s The Italian are two of the most iconic Gothic novels of the Eighteenth Century, both written only a year apart and one in response to other. It is of no surprise that both novels have various subjects in common—one of these, the Supernatural. Ghostlike forces, specters, demons and locations are approached differently in The Monk and The Italian, one uses the supernatural deliberately—and in a much larger role—while the other uses the supernatural to heighten certain scenes of terror. Certainly, both novels use it as a shock factor, but furthermore both use it for different reasons in their novels.
Washington Irving wrote two stories that have become profoundly popular over the decades. Some of the stories many stories he wrote were The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and The Devil and Tom Walker. Even though the stories were both good, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow was written better in my opinion. I’m going to prove that the Legend of Sleepy Hollow was better by comparing and contrasting common themes they shared. The themes I chose to compare and contrast are wealth, the supernatural, and karma.
“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.
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 main idea of both stories is the resolution of what had happened to Daniel and Tom.
Romanticism is a type of story that finds inspiration in myth, legend, and folk culture. Following this principle, Washington Irving has written many stories about romanticism. These stories include, “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “Rip Van Winkle. Irving’s stories, “The Devil and Tom Walker, and “Rip Van Winkle” both show traits of romanticism because they both include the supernatural realm, youthful innocence over sophistication, shunning civilization, and folk culture.
Nature was introduced in romantic novels and poems. In the poem ‘’Thanatopisis’’ by William Cullen Bryant he described death to something that was peaceful and to be embraced. He believed that you become one with nature, one with earth once you die. But in the poem ‘’Devil and Tom Walker’’ by Washington Irving he described death to be evil, sinful. He believed death to horrifying and something to not be embraced.
Why does gothic horror even matter in literature? Gothic horror can create numerous ideas found within a novel more interesting or suspenseful about what will happen next. These stories use different characteristics to create a gothic atmosphere in the story. During the Victorian era, the idea of gothic literature grew in popularity. It is influenced by countless ideas, including religious themes around this time period, and usually reflects on the characteristics of the people living in the Victorian era.
