The Devil And Tom Walker Greed Essay

The Devil and Tom Walker Essay Greed is a plague that many people in our modern society suffer from. Greed makes people do unthinkable things for their own gain, such as manipulate and destroy others. In the case of the story “The Devil and Tom Walker,” the author, Washington Irving, tells people of what it means to be greedy and its devastating effects on a person. The main character, Tom Walker, is a greedy man with an even greedier wife who both sell their souls to the devil for wealth. The insatiable greed they both have leads them both to their own inevitable demise and their own unhappiness. Using three literary devices, Irving develops the theme of greed. Through tone, symbolism, and character development, the theme of greed is evolved

Through the actions of each character, more specifically, Tom and his wife. Both Tom and his wife show extreme greed when they show they do not care for one another, but for the idea of gaining more wealth. When Tom tells his wife of Kidd’s treasure and his encounter with the Black Man, his wife urges him to accept the deal, however, “...the more she talked, the more resolute was Tom not to be damned to please her. At length she determined to drive the bargain on her own account, and, if she succeeded, to keep all the gain to herself” (Irving 3). This quote alone gives a detailed look into the greed filled character that Tom’s wife is; later on when she goes off to make a deal with the devil, she never returns. This develops the theme of greed by showing the effects of greed on a person. Another quote that shows the effects of greed is, “As Tom waxed old, however, he grew thoughtful. Having secured the good things of this world, he began to feel anxious about those of the next” (Irving 4). In this quote, it's shown that greed is never something that can be satisfied and will continue to eat at the person until their inevitable end, further developing the overall greed portrayed in the story. Irving is essentially saying that even when you are wealthy, which Tom is, it will not always make you happy, just as Tom grew anxious and died as an unhappy person despite having the wealth he