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. Initially, archetypes can be found in Tom Walker. The archetype that Tom portrays is that of greed. The narrator explains, “… there once lived near this place a meagre miserly fellow of the name of Tom Walker.” (Irving online). The author describes Tom as a miserly meagre man. Tom lacks quality and his greediness makes him even less valuable. Another example of Tom’s greediness is when the narrator states, “He built himself, as usual, a vast house, out of ostentation, but left the greater part of it unfinished and unfurnished out of parsimony.” (Irving online). Tom is so greedy that he builds a grand house but decides not to finish the rest of the house because he does not want to spend any more money. Tom …show more content…
Walker is another archetype of vile human traits. Mrs. Walker archetype is also greed. The narrator introduces, “whatever the woman could lay hands on she hid away…” (Irving online). The author describes Mrs. Walker as a greedy woman who takes anything she finds for herself. Not only does she take them, but she also hides them from Tom so he is unable to find them. The narrator illustrates, “… found nothing but a heart and liver tied up.”(Irving online). Since, Mrs. Walker was not the purest of being of beings when she tried making a deal with the devil, he did not like what she proposed to him. The Devil killed Mrs. Walker but left the heart and liver since they were so tainted by who Mrs. Walker was that they have no value. Overall, Mrs. Walker’s archetypes of greed led to her own
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.
In the short folktale story “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving shows different forms of archetypal behavior like greed, selfishness, and evil. Tom Walker and his wife were quite alike with a few differences. Tom Walker and his wife do not have the typical relationship. They cheat each other whenever they get the opportunity. Anything his wife can get her hands on with little or no value his wife hides it from him.
The Devil and Tom Walker The Devil and Tom Walker is a short story that was written by Washington Irving depicting Tom Walkers greed. Near a swamp in the 1700’s, lived a grumpy man named Tom Walker and his wife, who was also a grumpy hag. They were both greedy, so greedy that they would even try to trick and cheat each other. All they did was argue and bicker about money and wealth.
Tom knew when he asked for riches that, “there was one condition” (Irving 9) that was needed to make a deal with the Devil.
In “The Devil and Tom Walker” written by Washington Irving, there's many themes that give to the story such as extreme greed and selfishness. Irving tried to express that material wealth truly don’t satisfy a person's life. I define greed as an intense or selfish desire for something. When someone is greedy they only care about obtaining things such as money, or fame. They don’t think through the choices that may or may not cause a lifetime of regret.
Early into the age of romantic writing, a wonderful passage was written by Washington Irving called “The Devil and Tom Walker.” The short story was about a man named Tom Walker who stumbles upon another man who changes his life. Irving took many ideas that are present in other romantic pieces, one of them being mystery. Mystery was an important part in many of the lives of romantics. One example in his story was when Tom meets a man in the forest who prints his signature, or fingerprint, on the forehead of Tom.
Foremost, Tom was a very greedy man with that motivation it led him to selling his soul to the Black Man. For example, in the story, “The Devil and Tom Walker “ the devil says to him, “you shall lend money at two percent, a month” he replied, “I’ll charge four!! “ This demonstrates Toms greediness since he took advantage of the less wealthy making himself wealthier. Additionally, in the story it said, “Tom built himself, as usual, a vast house, out of ostentation; but
(P.233 Irving) Tom Walker's wife ran into the woods with all their valuable silverware without her husband to deal with the devil so she could keep the money to herself. Evidently, In both “Snow White and The Huntsman” and “The Devil and Tom Walker” shows a characteristic of greed from The Huntsman because of his goal of getting his wife. And Tom Walker's wife because she left her husband to deal with the Devil
This short story also refers to how a female scold is “... Considered a match for the devil…” by the harshness and fierce expressed (Irving 314).
The Devils Footprints aligns the reader with the anti-hero Michael Gardner by invoking relative morality in which his morals
Archetypes can be found across multiple short stories and represent characters in a very effective way. One story with several examples of archetypes would be “The Most Dangerous Game.” In “The Most Dangerous Game,” General Zarroff has the characteristics of a monster. General Zaroff gives those characteristics by hunting humans for his own enjoyment. General Zaroff then
This is because Tom is preoccupied with keeping his possessions to himself that he keeps his house very ugly. In these times, people were welcome into a stranger’s house, but because Tom refused to share his goods with anyone, nobody bothered to come to his house. As a result of the decrepit nature of his house and the lack of sharing with other visitors, tom is shown to be a very stingy man. TO sum up, Tom Walker is a stingy man because he competes with his wife for all of their possessions, he does not take care of his horse because he doesn’t want to spend any money on it, and he keeps his house gloomy to ward of any
Many stories in literature are not complete without an Antagonist. The Antagonist can be the embodiment of evil or just a roadblock for the main character to overcome. In the short story Sweat, written by Zora Neale Hurston, features an abusive husband, Sykes, as the Antagonist. Sykes dominates and abuses his hard-working wife, Delia. Whereas, Edgar Allen Poe, author of The Cask of Amontillado, uses an ambiguous relationship between Fortunato, a man full of ego and arrogance, who wrongs protagonist Montresor.
A lesser but still powerful evil side to a character; one which seeks to go against both society and what the original character’s self
Greed is a typical characteristic that is indigenous to all the humans. The characteristic of mother in TRHW is described as a woman who is greedy for a luxurious life. Even though she already holds a wealthy status, her desires for luxurious life is too strong that she wastes money and always bewail about the lack of money. When she receives a large amount of money from Paul, she never seems to be satisfied by the circumstance. And what is even worse, her demands become stronger as Paul succeeds in the horse races and earn larger sum of money.