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Comparing The Devil And Tom Walker And Ralph Waldo Emerson

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In 18th century Europe, a literary movement, romanticism and transcendentalism, came about which inspired many American writers. Although, the two are very similar in philosophy and ideology they are quite distinct to the extent of their beliefs. Both are firm believers in the sacredness of nature, but their views on religion remain indifferent. Many romantic and transcendental writers flourished during this time period. Like the romantic, Washington Irving, who wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker”, and the transcendental, Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote “Nature”. “The Devil and Tom Walker”, romantic, and “Nature”, transcendental, share the same values of the beauty of nature, but oppose each other on their views of God’s worth. Romanticism is …show more content…

The story is about a cruel man, named Tom, who comes across the devil and exchanges his soul for success. Tom becomes a ruthless money lender, who later realizes his poor decisions, and attempts to become in touch with god in order to redeem himself of his past self. The most self explanatory element used in this tale is the beauty and awe of nature. Irving describes a scene in the woods, “Stepping from tuft to tuft of rushes and roots, which afforded precarious footholds among deep sloughs...” (Irving,230). Illustrates romanticism because of his depiction of nature and Tom’s situation in it. Irving also goes into a deeper sense of nature and its correlation with man when Tom heads out into the woods , “On one side of this inlet is a beautiful dark grove; on the opposite side the land rises abruptly from the water's edge into a high ridge...” (Irving,229). Portraying not only the awe of nature, but also how nature has man like elements. Towards the end of the story, after Tom has sold off his soul, he realizes his inner corruption and attempts recovery by becoming religious and always carrying a bible on him. The significance to his attempt is that romantics were not one for god. To add to the irony god did not repeal him of his mistake, instead the devil takes him away and is never seen

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Analysis Of The Devil And Tom Walker

706 Words | 3 Pages

REAL ESTATE BROKERS AND SALES AGENTS. The foreclosure of the properties from defaulted mortgages from clients that are unhappy and unwilling to follow legal proceedings. This problem connects to the theme of the story The Devil and Tom Walker because if you get a loan to buy a house then it shows competance to pay the loan back without valunable to foreclosure for your family so not as when Tom did not make solid ethical choices for himself and his wife when he refused to comply with her to pursue rich of their life and let her go to the swamp by herself as in the story "The next evening she set off again for the swamp, with her apron heavily laden.

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Compare And Contrast The Devil And Tom Walker And The Devil And Daniel Webster

969 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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Compare And Contrast The Devil And Tom Walker And The Devil And Daniel Webster

793 Words | 4 Pages

The stories “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” both have a resounding theme of how the seemingly easy ways in life are not always the most beneficial in the long run, especially in regards to wealth. Although these stories have much in common, there are noticeable differences that make each of them unique. The resolution of the stories, the depiction of the Devil, and the role of saving grace are some of the aspects that differentiate these two stories. The resolutions in both of these Faust Legends have some differences and similarities.

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Romantic Elements In Washington Irving's The Devil And Tom Walker

287 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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Comparing Romanticism In The Devil And Tom Walker

619 Words | 3 Pages

Washington Irving wrote many wonderful romanticism stories. One of these stories, “The Devil and Tom Walker”, involves a man, making a deal with the Devil. It begins when the elderly man, Tom Walker, walks through a marsh one day instead of his usual route home through the town. He walked in the marsh until water seeped into his shoe, and he sat down to drain the water, and saw a black man, who he later found out was the Devil, sitting on a stump, looking at him. They talked for a while, until Tom asked the Devil, “‘The upshot of all which is, that, if I'm not mistake not,’ said Tom, sturdily, ‘you are he commonly called Old Scratch’.

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Nilima D Costa Research Paper

65 Words | 1 Pages

My name is Nilima D ' Costa, Daughter of Arun Bernard D ' Costa. Currently, I am living abroad from Bangladesh. My father has savings in his account "Loan For Others" In this company (Electrical and Electronics Company Ltd.) I am able to receive a part of his interest.

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Differences Between The Devil And Tom Walker

76 Words | 1 Pages

Washington Irving wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker” in 1824. The story is set in 1727 near Boston, Massachusetts and features Tom Walker, Mrs. Walker and a mysterious character known as Old Scratch. Tom Walker has many conflicts throughout the story with his wife, himself and the choices that he makes. Washington Irving uses this story to reflect on the superstitions and beliefs of the time period while also revealing the materialistic nature of the 1820s.

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How Did Chris Mccandless View The Wilderness

663 Words | 3 Pages

In the wilderness, one can discover solace and inner peace. Transcendentalism romanticized nature and glorified self-sufficiency within it. These writers wrote poetically about their experiences in the natural world, and framed it as something that was pure and sacred, and apart from human civilization (Gracia). In the eyes of Transcendentalists, nature is seen as pure because it is untainted by human influence. They believed that society and its institutions often corrupted our true selves, but nature remains unspoiled and

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Transcendentalism And Romanticism Similarities

538 Words | 3 Pages

Transcendentalism and Romanticism are indubitably related to one another in numerous ways. However, the things that give each singularity are the deciding points as to which of the two someone may think of either as more viable. I propose that, although Romanticism’s ideas may be viewed as less practical than those offered by Transcendentalism, they are more capable of bringing one personal happiness. If I had to ground any aspect of my life on either, I think Romanticism would be the more reasonable choice. I am not exceptionally religious nor do I definitely believe in a god; but I do believe in good and evil, and some elements of the supernatural.

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'Transcendentalism In William Cullen Bryant's Thanatopsis'

322 Words | 2 Pages

William Cullen Bryant’s “Thanatopsis” suits the description of Romanticism because he talks about love of nature and also beauty. In the description provided, it defines Romanticism as “devotion to beauty; love of and worship of nature”. In the poem, Bryant talks about beauty and love of nature. Bryant talks about beauty when he writes about an “eloquence of beauty”. Here Bryant is talking about a love of nature “To him who in the love of nature holds”, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” suits the description of Transcendentalism and its “Basic Beliefs” because it describes how everyone should just be themselves no matter what others think.

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Comparing Emerson And Henry David Thoreau

1159 Words | 5 Pages

Transcendentalist writers were focused on the belief of the divinity of the individual soul, the inner voice, (Crawford, Kern & Needleman, 1961) to overcome social stereotypes and to avoid conformity. It is highlighted the importance to return to nature to enhance the quality of humans beings by living simply since being apart of common social rules is the only way to be in communion with nature’s wisdom. Those transcendental characteristics could be seen in Emerson’s ¨self-reliance¨ or Thoreau’s ¨Walden ¨ bearing in mind that although, Emerson’s ¨Self-reliance¨ adheres more descriptive examples to illustrate metaphors and Thoreau’s ¨Where I lived and what I lived for¨ introduces metaphors creating much more imagery, both make a critique of the modern individual using

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Comparison Of Transcendentalism In Emerson And Nathaniel Hawthorne

1098 Words | 5 Pages

Men committed their lives to the study of nature. Nature became a religion. Emerson, a transcendental optimist, claimed that each person is inherently good. Hawthorne, a transcendental pessimist, demanded that man was corrupt and inherently evil. Emerson

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Dark Romanticism In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

831 Words | 4 Pages

In the 19th century two significant different genres in American literature emerged: Transcendentalism and Dark Romanticism/Anti-transcendentalism. Towards the middle of the 19th century, the Transcendentalism movement became significant in literature. Thus, as a reaction to the widespread movement, Dark Romanticism was founded. Transcendentalism was based on logical thinking and human’s consciousness, whereas, Dark Romanticism was different in many aspects.

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Examples Of Elizabeth Gilbert A Transcendentalist

293 Words | 2 Pages

The transcendentalists believed in individualism, equality, and optimism for the future, creating a time period where literature and arts prospered. With a Utopian society in mind, the reform for education, women’s rights, and slavery was put into motion. Over 150 years ago, Emerson and Thoreau wrote individual pieces displaying key transcendental beliefs. As with many works at the time, these papers still hold relevance to the 21st century and can be applied to modern citizens, such as Elizabeth Gilbert.

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Relationship Between Romanticism And Nature

986 Words | 4 Pages

Some scholars of romanticism such as William Wordsworth believe that the romanticists treated nature in an almost religious way. “Reasons for the development of this strong connection between nature and romanticism include the Industrial Revolution, which led many people to leave rural areas and live in cities, separated from the natural world”. The best way to reflect this topic is by knowing

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