Similarities Between The Devil And Tom Walker

A Faustian Bargain is when someone sells their soul to the devil usually for wealth, fame, or knowledge. There are similarities in premise between “The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving and The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benét. While there are similarities in premise, there are also differences in the way each story ended based on the men’s decisions. Both men [Jabez Stone and Tom Walker] sold their souls to the devil for wealth, but the differences lie in the ending of each story. With the help of Daniel Webster, Jabez Stone beats Old Scratch in a court case, winning his soul back while Tom Walker gets dragged to hell. This is why the two stories are similar in the premise of greedy men selling their souls for wealth

Jabez’s support system helped him save his soul, unlike Tom Walker, who had no one to support him. Jabez’s support system was his wife, Mary, and Daniel Webster, who was his lawyer in the court case against the Devil. Tom Walker had the complete opposite; he was a miserable and lonely man in a relationship plagued with distrust and violence. Because of the support dynamics of each character, their fate was settled differently, one with success and the other with hellfire. Mary tells Jabez “Do you think it's the place that makes the difference to a woman? I'd-I'd have kept your house. I'd have stroked the cat and fed the chickens and seen you wiped your shoes on the mat. I wouldn't have asked for more. Oh, Jabez- why didn't you tell me” this is one of the many displays of Mary’s loyalty to her husband and without the support of Mary and the help of Daniel Webster, Jabez would have gotten the same fate as Tom walker. ”Webster: And so you shall! First of all, you'll promise and covenant never to bother Jabez Stone or any other New Hampshire man from now till doomsday. For any hell we want to raise in this State, we can raise ourselves, with- out any help from