Greed In The Devil And Tom Walker And Nightmare In Yellow

Have you ever felt a need for something so badly that you would do anything for it? Almost everyone has felt this way, it’s a part of human emotions and feelings. Sins are a common thing in human society, and greed is only one of them. Everyone has committed a sin at one point or another during their lifetime, and it’s shown well throughout stories too. In the stories of The Devil and Tom Walker and Nightmare in Yellow, the motivations of each main character can be seen.
Throughout the story The Devil and Tom Walker, Tom Walker, and his wife show greed. An example is, in The Devil and Tom Walker, “He accumulated bonds and mortgages, gradually squeezed his customers closer and closer, and sent them at length, dry as a sponge, from his door”

This shows that Tom is motivated by greed because the only thing he’s after is his clients’ money. Tom Walker uses his business as a usurer in order to lend people money, but with an interest rate. His job is to let people borrow money from him, but they have to pay it back and give him more than they borrowed. From this example, the audience can see that Tom’s motivation is greed. However, Tom Walker isn’t the only character in The Devil and Tom Walker who shows greed. Tom’s wife is another great example of the sin greed. According to the story, The Devil and Tom Walker, “At length she determined to drive the bargain on her own account, and, if she succeeded, to keep all the gain to herself. Being of the same fearless temper as her husband, she set off for the old Indian fort toward the close of a summer's day” (Irving). This example shows that Tom’s wife is motivated by greed because she went to make a deal with

His motive is his anger for his wife: “His decision to kill his wife had been relatively an afterthought. The motive was simple: he hated her” (Brown). As shown in the text, this clearly states his motive and hatred for his wife. Deciding to kill her was just another part of his plan, not the main focus. From the story, it's clear that the protagonist harbors hatred toward his wife. Although, this is not the only example in the story where he shows anger. In Nightmare in Yellow, “It was ridiculous, he knew, but it had become important that his moment of freedom should come then and not a minute earlier or a minute later. He watched his watch. He would have missed it by half a minute if he'd waited till they were inside the house. But the dark of the porch of their house was perfectly safe, as safe as inside. He swung the blackjack viciously once, as she stood at the front door, waiting for him to open it” (Brown). This shows that the protagonist undoubtedly hates his wife. The fact that he’s willing to murder her for his plan, and that he couldn’t wait till they were in the house to do it proves the point even further. He himself states it’s ridiculous, but he had to have it then and there. Therefore, anger is shown through the protagonist when he murders his wife, and he states it himself in the