Washington Irving's The Devil And Tom Walker

Literature has been around for many ages. There are many different types of literature fro. many different times. The way people write has changed throughout the years. American literature is commonly talk about because it is well liked, although sometimes it can be hard to understand if you are currently a student. There is nothing quite like the stories that were written in this time. The Devil and Tom Walker, The devil and Daniel Webster, The Man in the Black Suit, and The Scarlet Letter all things in common because they all describe the devil in a special way along with authors of the stories were all men.

Satire is used by many famous writers to create humor and to criticize people’s unwise, and senseless actions. As George Orwell once said, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." (Orwell, 1945). People will always be greedy and think they are smarter than others but this is untrue. The one who thinks he is smarter or better than the other will always end up losing in life. In the short story “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, satire is incorporated in a perfect way. This story is about Tom Walker, who makes a pact with the devil, and ends up lending money at high interest rates. When Tom Walker thinks he is smarter than his customers and does not give more time to one of his customers to pay him back, Tom’s life ends in an instant. Through the use of satire Irving criticizes the institution of marriage and the folly of human nature.

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.

“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.

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. In The Devil and Tom Walker the author portrays archetypes in the characters Tom Walker, Mrs. Walker, and the Devil.

Should the government tell us how to live our lives? The government should not limit the amount of sugary drinks because its an american right to choose what we eat and sugary drinks are not the leading contributor to health problems.

Washington Irving’s, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. is a collection of thirty-four of his essays and short stories. Attributed to the fictional Dutch historian character, Diedrich Knickerbocker, are two of Irving’s most popular stories, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Rip Van Winkle is the story of a Dutch villager, living at the foot of the Catskill mountains before and after the American Revolutionary War. Van Winkle is genuinely loved by the people of his village, especially by the children whom he tells ghost stories to, plays with, and gives toys. However, this simple, easy-going man has one great error in his character: he is incredibly lazy, despising work in all forms. Therefore, Van Winkle must endure the unrelenting nagging of his wife, Dame Van Winkle, every day. When he can no longer deal with the words of his wife, Van Winkle decides to wander the mountainside with his loyal cur dog, Wolf. After some time, Van Winkle hears his name called out by a Dutch man,

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.

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. Here are some examples of elements.

The foreclosure of the properties from defaulted mortgages from clients that are unhappy and unwilling to follow legal proceedings.

In, The Devil and Tom Walker, by Washington Irving, the protagonist, Tom is lead into damnation by the Devil himself. Tom knew when he asked for riches that, “there was one condition” (Irving 9) that was needed to make a deal with the Devil.

The Romantics wanted to create a sense of identity for Americans, often by exploring topics that had previously been avoided, such as human nature. In Washington Irving’s Dark Romantic short story, The Devil and Tom Walker Irving shows the five points of Romanticism; including focus on emotion, nature, youth, imagination and people themselves. During his unhappy marriage, Tom Walker decides to take a stroll through the woods where he meets the Devil who, in turn, offers to buy the man’s soul. Irving writes, “However Tom might have felt disposed to sell himself to the devil, he was determined not to do so to oblige his wife; so he flatly refused, out of the mere spirit of contradiction… Tom was not to be damned to please her” (Irving 295). Irving displays in this quote Tom’s ability to decide for himself. This also illustrates a very cleaver plot, showing the Romantic theme of the importance of one’s imagination. Tom, looking for his wife, saw her apron in a tree, “As he scrambled up the tree, the vulture spread its wide wings, and sailed off, screaming, into the deep shadows of the forest. Tom seized the chec ked apron, but, woeful sight! Found nothing but a heart and liver tied up in it!” (Irving 296). While showing a cleaver plot once more, Irving displays an extremely dark subject; the death of a loved one. Until the dark

Have one ever had time think about what makes Hinduism and Buddhism similarly, and also what makes these two religion different? If one did not thought about this one should definitely take the time to.

Christianity, Muslim, and Judaism are well-known religions. However, people are less familiar with the smaller branches that were once born from these large religions. Some branches remain attached to their main religion while other branches grow far from their origin and stand as a completely separate creed with their own principles. For example, Druze is a monotheistic religion that diverged from the Muslim religion many years ago due to their major differences. There are around one million Druzes around the world. Mostly in the areas of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, each country having a Druze percentage of forty, fifty, and seventy respectively. One facet that makes the Druze religion unlike other religions is the belief in reincarnation