Supernatural Elements In The Devil And Tom Walker

Author Joyce Carol Oates ' discovery of the stories of Edgar Allen Poe and Ann Radcliff “sparked her interest in Gothic fiction”. These Gothic elements typically include gruesome or violent incidents, characters in psychological or physical torment, and strong language full of dangerous meanings. Oates herself is citied as saying that "Horror is a fact of life. As a writer, I’m fascinated by all facets of life". “Where is Here?" This story is sort of eerie and tells the tale of a grown-up man who goes back to visit his childhood home.

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.

Edgar Allen Poe once said, “A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.” All authors use many different methods to create the mood in a story. In stories authors use many different methods to illustrate mood in a story, Shirley Jackson, author of “The Lottery” uses foreshadowing and setting to create the mood while W.W Jacobs uses sound and diction in his story “The Monkeys Paw.” Finally, Joan Aiken uses foreshadowing and motifs to create the mood in her story, “The Third Wish” Foreshadowing is often used to create a dark feeling by hinting to future events. In “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson uses foreshadowing to set the dark, grimacing scene of the story.

5 Noted ubiquitously among such works created by Rodolfo Anaya and Harper Lee, powerful symbolism is carried out through wonderful conveyance of literary technique in each author’s respective novels. Granted both authors can employ symbolism accordingly, each author has their signature trademark in providing symbolism, and imploring the reader to search for a deeper meaning within given context. One of Harper Lee’s most powerful symbols is simply the title of her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The title itself has little connection to the plot, but it carries a great deal of symbolic weight in the book. One may simply look past this, but the symbol lies within the mockingbird itself.

Foreshadowing is a very powerful literary device used in most, if not all, pieces of literature. Authors who intentionally add this aspect to their story use it as a way of building anticipation in the reader’s mind, thus adding the feeling of suspense. Ken Kesey masterfully applies this concept throughout his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by utilizing the intricate web of connections that he spins between characters and other elements present in the text. McMurphy’s eventual downfall is foreshadowed through subjects that he is subtly linked to such as both the dog and Ruckly. McMurphy’s behavioural patterns are likened to a dog several times in times throughout the novel, such as when Chief Bromden describes him sitting down, “He goes over to his chair, gives another big stretch and yawn, sits down and moves around for a while like a dog coming to rest” (Kesey 48), and when Harding says, “Friend… you… may be a wolf… You have a very wolfy roar,” (67).

"The world is made up of two classes-the hunters, and the huntees.” This short story written by Richard Connell, “The Most Dangerous Game,” contains many literary devices that make a story come alive. In this specific short story, conflict, plot, and suspense are used to push the story forward. Connell's way of using these three specific elements keeps the reader attentive, and creates a memory for the reader of an incredible short story. First, conflict is the struggle between opposing forces is shown in many ways throughout the story.

And Then There Were None, she fully combines suspense and surprise, through the omniscient point of view and poignant plot. Therefore, And Then There Were None is a well-written murder mystery. The omniscient point of view means the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in the story. (Abrams 233) Plot is the series of events that form the story of a novel, play, and film (Abrams 294).

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson was published on June 26, 1948. Some of her other works include “The Haunting of Hill House”, “Hangsaman”, And “The Sundial”. Jackson is known for many things but mostly for her Horror/Mystery stories as they are known to captivate the reader. Shirley Jackson is a very prolific author because she to brings a unique form of writing to her readers. This is seen through her many novels and short stories as the reader is greeted with something new in each one.

Gothic literature is style of literature that consistently delivers scary, gory, and captivating stories using one main literary element. This element is theme. Some notable prices of gothic literature which use lots of theme to deliver the story include, Rip Van Winkle, the devil and Tom Walker, and the Legend of the sleepy Hollow. In all of these stories, there is a universal idea to deliver messages through the use of different themes types of greed, all of themes are brought to life by using different thoughts and ideas to further better the writing, and make each story different than the other one. In addition, in some cases, Irving uses personal experiences to further enhance the theme of the stories.

Edgar Allan Poe’s stories all have some type of mysterious setting that makes the reader read in between the lines and decipher the meaning. His stories also incorporate a great deal of violence and sinister acts, which adds a grimness to each story he tells. “The Black Cat” is a true work of literature that incorporates a hidden meaning in the story with the use of sinister violence. In this particular story, the narrator’s use of the first-person point of view, symbolism through the characters, and the eerie setting creates a fascinating tale. Edgar Allan Poe’s story is told from the first-person point of view.

Many people in the world today try to cover up their darker sides with a "mask" which hides their true self. Often times, however, people's masks are removed and we see them for who they really are. Many politicians today do this when they try to get people to vote for them. They wear a "mask" to veil their darker sides so the public can't see their flaws. The narrator in "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allen Poe and the character Tom Walker in "The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving wear "masks" to cover up their darker character traits.

In the poems The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe, Prey by Richard Matheson, and The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving the theme of violence and grotesqueness is highly prevalent. Whether the violence is glossed over or painted in sensational and bloody detail , it is a hallmark of the gothic narrative, and serves many purposes many functional purposes beyond inspiring terror in the reader. All of the three authors selected have shown immense experience in adding the right amount of violence and goriness into their writings. In Prey Matheson represents violence by stating “Both legs were streaked with caking blood, some of the gashes still bleeding” (Matheson 6). In the same writing Matheson uses a representation of grotesqueness in saying

The non fiction novel, “The Devil in the White City”, is filled with twists and turns as author Eric Larson compares the lives of two men thought to be living two entirely different lives. Chicago’s World Fair, in remembrance of the landing of Columbus in America, is a major aspect in the lives of both men, named H.H Holmes and Daniel Burnham. In this specific passage, however, the literary element of symbolism is applied and very well so. The illuminations lighting up the city symbolizes positivity. With European rivals always “one step ahead”, the lights covering Chicago specifically give a sense of hope and America’s potential to be improved.

Various gothic elements are depicted by the following gothic writers: Washington Irving, Richard Matheson and Edgar Allan Poe; elements such as: entrapment and supernatural characteristics are illustrated in the short stories: “The Devil and Tom Walker;” “Prey;” and “The Raven.” Entrapment was a significant element represented in all of the short stories aforementioned. In, “The Devil and Tom Walker,” soon after Tom Walker established his broker’s shop in Boston “he made money hand over hand, became a rich and mighty man, and exalted his cocked hat upon "Change." He built himself, as usual, a vast house, out of ostentation, but left the greater part of it unfinished and unfurnished, out of parsimony. He even set up a carriage in the fulness of his vain-glory, though he nearly starved the horses which drew it”(Irving 326).