Preview

The Devil and Tom Walker

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
591 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Devil and Tom Walker
Brianna Torrez
Sotirion-Frates
English 11, Period 6
June 11, 2014
Final

The Devil and Tom Walker

Tom Walker was the dynamic character in Washington Irving’s short story The Devil and Tom Walker. Tom Walker in my opinion changes toward the end of the story; he starts to come to the realization and see how good he had it in his life. Tom experiences an epiphany and changes dramatically by
He became much more appreciative and caring of his life, surroundings and others. Meeting the Devil brought Tom Walkers greedy side out. He’d always been greedy. It wasn’t anything new. Persuading Tom was an easy success for the Devil because of how vulnerable Tom was. He was quick to give his soul to the Devil to get everything he had always desired in life.
Tom Walker accepted his life before the Devil came into it. He wasn’t happy, he was miserable. He didn’t find happiness in his life, his relationship with his wife, or with himself in general. Tom Walker was never satisfied with life. The Devil offered Tom Walker a way out of his miserable life. Tom Walker was greedy selfish and extremely unappreciative. The Devil was already aware of all of this and knew how exactly to get Tom to give him his soul. Tom got what he had always wanted, money, fame, and power. Due to this he wanted even more, and became more greedy and selfish.
Dynamic Characters In A Tale O - Dynamic Characters in A Tale of Two Cities The English novelist, Charles Dickens, is one of the most popular writers in the history of literature. During his life, he wrote many books, one of them being A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens uses many dynamic characters in this novel. Dynamic characters or, characters that drastically change, play a very important role in the novel A Tale of Two Cities. Towards the beginning of the novel, Jerry Cruncher’s actions are rather disturbing. Mrs. Cruncher is very religious and is always praying.... [tags: essays research papers]
Tom Walker was the main character, without him

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    A few miles from Boston, in Massachusetts, there is a deep inlet winding several miles into the interior of the country from Charles Bay, and terminating in a thickly wooded swamp, or morass. On one side of this inlet is a beautiful dark grove; on the opposite side the land rises abruptly from the water's edge, into a high ridge on which grow a few scattered oaks of great age and immense size. Under one of these gigantic trees, according to old stories, there was a great amount of treasure buried by Kidd the pirate. The inlet allowed a facility to bring the money in a boat secretly and at night to the very foot of the hill. The elevation of the place permitted a good look out to be kept that no one was at hand, while the remarkable trees formed good landmarks by which the place might easily be found again.…

    • 4802 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    3. What agreement does Tom Walker ultimately make with the Devil? As the story progresses, why do you think Tom begins to go to church and carry a Bible with him at all times?…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the story The Devil and Tom walker by Washington Irving Tom Walker is motivated by greed. During the story Tom and his wife are always hiding eggs and other things from each other in their forlorn looking house. Tom was also never a man to stick at trifles when large sums of money were in view. This means he was greedy when it came to money. So you would think he would take the deal the devil offered him, which was that he could captain kidds treasure that was buried in the swamp. But Tom didn’t take that deal at first,…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    12. Which quote from “The Devil and Tom Walker” best contributes to the story’s mood?…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    "The Devil and Tom Walker" is a short story by Washington Irving that many wonder about. It teaches a lesson and has many archetypes in the characters. An older greedy, self/centered guy whose wife is just as evil and sneaky as him. Some ask how could you live with a person like this in your life, some may ask how could you and your wife live with each other? I believe that is a great question and would love to give my analyst on these characters and tell you how they almost sold their soul to the devil or what some may call him “old scratch”.…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    " The Devil and Tom Walker is a folk tale which teaches a lesson and uses stock characters. The idea…

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Irving, a nonreligious man, wrote this fictitious story that causes its audience to really consider their lives and to question what is possible in the future. His anti-Puritanical writings, while frowned upon by many, led to a new period of American Romanticism and inspired many new authors, such as Edgar Allen Poe, to follow in his footsteps. Without discussion, "The Devil and Tom Walker" is one of the many short stories that follows a Romantic style, and it clearly exhibited the huge shift in style that America went through in the 19th…

    • 1323 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The duality of human nature between the characters; Tom Walker, Young Goodman Brown, and Connie are revealed vastly contrarily and similarly throughout the each short stories. Tom Walker, a greedy, lazy, materialistic man throughout the short story “Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving as he makes his way through the muddy unpleasant swamp. Young Goodman Brown, an innocent, guilty, follower who is a victim of the Devil, in the story “Young Goodman Brown” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. He has a harsh time when he is tempted by the Devil in the woods. Lastly, Connie, a neglected, verballed abused, attention seeking young girl from “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates has been constantly compared and internally diminished by her mother from jealous for years. Each character while having similar experience all seem to also have similar personality traits as well.…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the story of “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, tells about three characters that portrays human behavior in the real world. Tom is a greedy, selfish, and foolish character that wants everything without working for it. Walker’s wife is also selfish, greedy, and foolish in her own way, by not caring about her husband and wanting everything for herself. Old Scratch is smart, evil and he always keeps his promises.…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker”, shows us that greed and hypocrisy will only haunt you in the end. The story takes place in New England in the late 1700’s. The narrator tells a story about a man’s encounter with the devil or “Old Scratch”. While most people don’t believe the wild story, the narrator swears that the story is indeed true.…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    he recurring theme in literature that is “the classic war between passion and responsibility” transpires throughout A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens using Jerry Cruncher to represent this theme through his conflict between his personal pride and his moral duties. The nature of this conflict affects Cruncher and has overall significance to the work.…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Tom Walker and his wife’s greed lead them down a path of corruption that results in their demise. Even before the events of the story take place, Walker and his wife were already selfish people. The narrator states, “that they even conspired to cheat each other,” which often leads to many conflicts between the husband and wife (Irving 229). Their greed is not brought on by the temptation of wealth, but is already an ingrained aspect of their personality. Instead of working…

    • 1444 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Tom Walker makes a deal with the devil, turning him from rags to riches. He quickly becomes rich after opening a bank with the fortune he gathered from the devil. Tom buys everything he wants and before long “began to feel anxious about those of the next. He thought with regret on the bargain he had made with his black friend, and set his wits to work to cheat him out of the conditions. He became, therefore, all of the sudden, a violent churchgoer”(Irving 13). Tom no longer was content with his deal of selling his soul to the devil. He began to see that his freedom and his life was more important than his big house and money. The fact that Irving included this shows how his quality of life really did not improve as he was trying to. The romantic value of freedom over goods shines through with Tom’s realization that he wanted his life back. This trend of regret continues after Stephen Benet’s Jabez Stone gets fed up with all of the things that happen to him. He feels he is the most unlucky person in the world and makes a deal with the devil so that he can have good luck for (ultimately) ten years before the devil takes him. The deal makes Jabez have good crop turnout, strong horses, and good luck, but also extreme apprehensiveness “For every day, when he gets up, he thinks, ‘There’s one more night gone,’ and every night he lies down he thinks of the black pocketbook and the soul of Miser Stevens, and it makes him sick at heart”(Benet 310). Stone cannot bear the fact the he can count down the days until his death. The benefits of the deal with the devil no longer help Jabez and he realizes that his freedom is more important than having nice. He cannot enjoy his life no matter what while he knows his fate, showing romanticism’s emphasis on freedom for self realization. Jabez’s good luck is quickly overshadowed when he realizes he doesn’t have his life anymore,…

    • 2133 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Border Crossing

    • 1423 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Danny see’s himself as the devil because he feels that he has ruined Tom’s life through their latest meeting.…

    • 1423 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    knitting women

    • 382 Words
    • 3 Pages

    historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens brings you into the lives of…

    • 382 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays