What Does The Devil And Tom Walker Represent

Washington Irving wrote the short story “The Devil and Tom Walker”. In “The Devil and Tom Walker”, he uses many symbols and images throughout the story. The narrator in the story is Geoffrey, and it takes place in 1727 Boston, Massachusetts- Charles Bay. Tom Walker is the main character in this short story, and is the protagonist. Tom rarely spends money even when he should. He never gives anything to anyone, including his wife. Tom’s wife’s name is never given during the story. She has a temper and is just as mean as Tom is. The townspeople think that she is physically abusive towards Tom, and she is always saying really rude things. Old Scratch is the devils name in disguise. He is given many names in the story, including black woodsman or

The Devil symbolizes temptation. Tom and his wife symbolize greed; they both disrespect each other greatly. They are constantly fighting, and so greedy that they even try to cheat each other. Towards the end of the story, Tom is hypocrite. When he is attending church but still collecting mortgages. The swamp is symbolizing the wrong path. The short cut through the swamp is the shortcut to wealth. The rotted trees in the forest are portraying the moral decay of society. The swamp is Tom’s shortcut home and his shortcut to obtain the wealth he wanted. In the end it was a bad mistake that he took that shortcut to wealth. It costs him eternal damnation. The bible is buried under mortgage papers and symbolizes greed and moral decay. Tom Walker’s house is very large and symbolizes false appearances, and just trying to impress others. The devil offers Tom the pirate’s treasure that is supposedly buried in the swamp. Tom has to work for the devil in order to get the treasure. The swamp also represents Tom’s bad services of becoming a usurer for the

The next later years, Tom try’s to be very religious by going to church, carrying a Bible, and praying loudly. The Bible under the foreclosed mortgage shows that Tom cares more about material wealth then about others. His actions show that he knows none of the Biblical principles, because he is following none of them. He thought that he could trick the devil with his outward display of religion, but he couldn’t.

The mood and tone of the story is humorous and sarcastic. He is trying to teach a lesson throughout the story. Satire is a literary device in which people, customs, or instructions are ridiculed with the purpose of improving society. Washington Irving uses satire when dealing with the relationship between Tom and his wife. The relationship they have is so untrusting, greedy. The satirical tone puts some humor into the story, when talking about the attitude between Tom and his wife. Another example of satire is the way the devil has been brought into the