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B
rianaMoon

Mr.Tawes
AmericanLiterature
10March,2015
LiteraryAnalysisofTheDevilandTomWalker
WashingtonIrvingrecognizesthenegativeaspectsfoundinthe19thcenturyandthatare
stillidentifiabletodayasmoralcorruptionandreligiousintolerance.Hestoresthethemesinto
hischaractersinTheDevilandTomWalkerandletstheirpersonalitieshighlightthetraitshe
witnessedineverydaylife.Themaincharacter,TomWalker`s,greedshapeshispersonality,and
hiswifeisoneinthesame,whichiswhytheyhavebothphysicalandverbalfights.Thepeopleof
thetown,nomatterhowhighandmightytheytrytobe,stillgossipandspeakpoorlyofthose
theyenvy.WashingtonIrvingusesintuitionandimaginationtomakethestatementthatgreed
leadstoreligiousintoleranceandmoralcorruption.
WhenTominitiallymeetstheblackmanandhearsofthedealthathehastomakein
ordertoreceiveKiddthePirate`streasure,heknowsthatdamninghimselfdoesnotmatchthe
priceofsomemeaslyfortuneandhiswife`sreactiontohisrevelationfurtherproveshissoul
meansmoretohim."HoweverTommighthavefeltdisposedtosellhimselftotheDevil,hewas
determinednotdosotoobligehiswifesoheflatlyrefused,outofmerespiritofcontradiction,"
(Irving233).However,whenhiswifeseeksthedevilherselfanddisappearsbecauseofit,he
throwscautiontothewindandmakesthedeal.Hedamnshimselfintheworstway,highlighting
howhebecomesmorallycorrupt.Eventhoughheknowswhathappenstohiswife.Greedfills
hismindandleadshimonthispathtodestruction.Although,lateroninthestory,whenhe

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knowshisendisnearing,guiltfillshim,sohedevisesaplantocheatthedevilbybecominga
violentchurchgoer.Inhindsight,hetreatsreligionhowhetreatsmoney,inexcess.Washington
Irvingwrites,
Heprayedloudlyandstrenuously,asifheavenweretobetakenbyforceoflungs.Indeed,one
mightalwaystellwhenhehadsinnedmostduringtheweek,bytheclamorofhisSunday
devotion,ThequietChristianswhohadbeenmodestlyandsteadfastlytravelingZionward,were
struckwithselfreproachatseeingthemselvessosuddenlyoutstrippedintheircareerbythis
newmadeconvert,(Irving228).
TomthinksthattheChristianswhodontscreamoutindevotion,wereworshippingincorrectly
andtheQuietChristiansthoughtthesameofTom.Religiousintoleranceissharedbetweenthe
townspeopleandTombecausetheybothbelievethattheotherpersonwasworshippinginthe
wrongway.
Irvingwrites,
"Underoneofthesegigantictrees,accordingtooldstories,therewasagreatamountof
treasureburiedbyKiddthepirate...Theoldstoriesadd....thattheDeviltookitunderhisguard
shipbutthatiswellknownhealwaysdoeswithburiedtreasure,particularlywhenithasbeen
illgotten.Bethatasitmay,Kiddneverreturnedtorecoverhiswealth.(Irving228).
ThestoryofKiddthePirateiswellknownaroundthetown.Asthetextstates,sincethewealth
wasillgotten,itisnaturalforthetowntobelievetheDevilguardsit.Itisreligiousintoleranceto
believethatifsomethinghasbeenillgottenithastodealwiththeDevil.WhenTom'swife
disappears,thetowncomesupwithallthesecorruptthingsthatmighthavehappenedtoherand
theyallfocusonhernegativeaspects.WashingtonIrvingwrites,Whatwasherrealfatenobody

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knows,inconsequenceofsomanypretendingtoknow.....someassertedthatshelostherway
amongthetangledmazesoftheswamp......othersmoreuncharitable,hintedthatshehadeloped
withthehouseholdbooty,andmadeofftosomeotherprovince(Irving233).Thetown,no
matterhowmuchtheytrytoraiseitselfaboveTomandhiswife,wereonthesamelevelasthem
becauseofthegossiptheyspoke.Irvingexplains,Theveryholeundertheoaktrees,whencehe
dugKidd'smoney,istobeseentothisdayandtheneighboringswampandoldindianfortare
oftenhauntedinstormynightsbyafigureonhorseback,inmorninggownandwhitecap,which
isdoubtlessthetroubledspiritoftheusurer."(Irving239).ThestoryofTomitselfseemstobea
wisetalethatscareschildrenintobehavingandneverchoosinggreedovermoney.Thestory
transformsintoalifelessonthepeopleofthetowntelltheirchildrentounnervethemtowards
theendinsteadofbeingataleofsomeone`slife.
Inconclusion,TheDevilandTomWalkerhighlightsmoralcorruptionandreligious
intolerancethroughthecharactersandtheyallseemtohavesomethingincommon:greed.He
embedsthetheme,usingimaginationandintuition,sothatthereaderwoulddivulgefurtherinto
thedirectmeaningandtakethetimetoevaluateeachcharacter.Hedidn'tbotherputting
examplesofhowcorrupttheblackmanwassincehewastheDevil.Thisdemonstratesthat
somepeopleinthe19thcenturywereopenwiththeirgreedwhileotherswerelikethe
townspeopleandhidtheirgreedandenvybymakingsnidecommentshereandthere.Peoplestill
showthatpersonalitieslikethateveryday.

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WorksCited

Brozo,Williamet.al
PearsonCommonCoreLiteratureGeorgia:TheAmericanExperience.
Hoboken:PearsonEducation,2015.Print.