In “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, the main character Tom Walker is described in the beginning of the story as a meager, miserly fellow that has conspired to cheat on his wife and tries to steal from her. Tom and his wife are described as having an extremely poor relationship as it is stated in the story that they are always arguing and sometimes she hits him. Tom and his wife live in a home that is described as “a forlorn-looking house that stood alone and had an air of starvation” and a “land of famine.” These descriptions indicate that Tom Walker and his wife are lower class and cannot afford repairs, keep up with the upkeep of their home, or take care of their singular horse. He enjoys being away from his wife which is stated in the story when he is walking down the path to the swamp, his joy described as …show more content…
Tom Walker’s action of striking the deal shows that he has avarice and is extremely lazy to work for his own money since he made a sneaky deal to get tons of riches and power that he abuses until he grows old. Most of the traits that Tom Walker portrays in the story are shown in his actions. When he returns to the Devil, it is evident that Tom is immoral and selfish because he wants as much money as he can get. He ends up affecting many people that are desperate for loans and money by bankrupting them and making their lives even more miserable because of his actions of charging extremely high interest rates to all of them. Tom Walker had no love for anybody else then himself either, which is evident with the aforementioned but also evident when he sees his wife’s heart and liver and does not care at all, even though he was married to her. Another example of Tom’s unjust and immoral behavior is when he is more concerned about the items of value, the silver spoons and tea-pot, than his own