The Devil And Tom Walker Greed Essay

Greed Leads to Unwanted Endings

Authors of folktale should present a meaningful lesson within their stories. In the folktale, The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving, the lesson is to understand the negative effects of greed. Tom Walker's major character flaw is greed. His greed leads to a series of unfortunate events, which eventually brings him to his final destination, hell with the Devil. There are more important things than money and possessions and at the end of the story this point is emphasized when his prized possessions disappear. Tom clutches his faith for safety, though loses his wife, possessions, and soul in the end. Tom Walker is pleased that his wife is gone. Tom’s original refusal to the Devil's offer evoked his wife to go and attempt her own deal with the Devil. The Devil did not want to make a deal with Tom’s wife. Tom discovers her apron, hung in a tree containing a liver and heart. He becomes upset when he realizes there are no valuable items in the apron. “ ‘Let us get hold of

Tom makes people think he is a “universal friend of the needy.” His door is being bombarded with costumers going through the “hard times.” With every loan Tom makes, he grows richer and his self-esteem grows higher, but his ability to feel regret for his doings never changes. He only cares for his own needs and wealth. Thinking of a way out of the bargain with the Devil, Tom decides to cheat himself out of the conditions. As his security progressively grows, it makes him wearier of the consequences of the Devil. Tom begins to carry a bible with him and becomes a “violent churchgoer.” Tom is blind to his sins and thinks one good thing can make up for all the bad. Tom has a “lurking dread that the Devil, after all, would have his due.” The Devil does eventually punish Tom for all his greed and