The Devil And Tom Walker Research Paper

Kaiden Cook

Mrs. Prudhomme

English 3

9 March 2023

Romanticism in The Devil and Tom Walker

The short story “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving was published during the early 1800s, the time of a difference in literature, known as the Romanticism era. The Romanticism era was a period of solid depictions of symbolic literary devices, such as self-identity, social injustice, nature, and spirituality. Irving’s story was an incredibly compelling example of this era. “The Devil and Tom Walker” showcased a storyline that followed a man named Tom Walker who suffered from poverty, the abuse of his wife, and the fatal mistake of making a deal with the devil to become an usurer. It was in this storyline that the latter of the literary

An example of nature was portrayed when Tom Walker took a shortcut from the forest, through the swamp, “The swamp was thickly grown with great, gloomy pines and hemlocks, some of them ninety feet high…” (Irving 4). This narrative of the swamp was considered nature because it was a vivid description of the surrounding wetlands that Tom Walker walked through. The portrayal of the landscape continued as Tom got further into the swamp, “It was full of pits and quagmires, partly covered with weeds and mosses, where the green surface often betrayed the traveler…” (Irving 4). This quote referred to the various parts of the swamp’s landscape, including a quagmire, which was part of the marsh which seemed to be solid land but was not. The identification of these environmental traits showed that this was nature. An additional depiction of nature in “The Devil and Tom Walker” was when Tom Walker came upon the remaining embankments of an old Indian hut, “Nothing remained of the old Indian fort… gradually sinking to the level of the surrounding earth, and already overgrown in parts of oaks and other forest trees…” (Irving 5). The given quote is understood to be nature because it described the extent of what nature had done to the old fort over the years. Nature was an aspect of the Romanticism era that Irving used to add depth and tone to his writing, however, it was not the

Even so, the theme of spirituality was still in the story, regardless of the reasoning. An example of spirituality was depicted when Tom Walker became a devoted Christian to keep the Devil away, “The quiet Christians who had been modestly and steadfastly traveling Zionward were struck with self-reproach at seeing themselves so suddenly outstripped… by this new-made convert.” (Irving 31). This instance displayed spirituality because it highlighted the extent to which Tom Walker became committed to Christianity, as well as how he essentially out staged the rest of the local congregation. This sentiment of devoutness continued as Tom Walker was noted to be seen continuously reading his bible, “He had also a great folio Bible on his counting-house desk, and would frequently be found reading it when people called on business; on such occasions he would lay his green spectacles in the book, to mark the place…” (Irving 32). This example exhibited spirituality because it showed to what degree Tom Walker was involving himself with the practices of religion, and furthermore due to the fact he was simply studying a devotional text. An additional example of spirituality in Irving’s story would be when the Devil came to retrieve Tom Walker to fulfill the rest of their deal, while Tom Walker was unable to defend himself, “He had left his little Bible at the bottom of his