“The Devil and Tom Walker” Washington Irving

K1. Describe the settings of the story. Tom’s Home: “…a forlorn looking house that stood alone and had an air of starvation.” (230) Lifeless; lacking qualities of warmth “…a miserable horse whose limbs were as articulate as the bars of a gridiron…” (230) Tom and his wife are neglectful, only concerned with selves

K1. Describe the settings of the story. Indian Fort: “It was a dreary memento of the fierce struggle that had taken place in this last foothold of the Indian warriors” (231) Invokes the memory of death and disaster; represents Hell “Anyone but [Tom] would have felt unwilling to linger in this lonely, melancholy place…” (231) Most people, with the exception of Tom, fear the fort

K1. Describe the settings of the story. Boston The city is riddled with mishaps involving materialism/capitalism ($$$) “In a word, the great speculating fever… had raged to an alarming degree, and everybody was dreaming of making sudden fortunes for nothing.” (236)

K2. Describe the main characters Tom Walker “a meager, miserly fellow” (229) He has money, but refuses to spend it – even on things that people would consider necessities Tom’s wife “a wife as miserly as himself” (229) “a tall termagant, fierce of temper, loud of tongue, and strong of arm” (230) She is cheap, brutish, angry, and physical with Tom – she “wears the pants” in the relationship.

K2. Describe the main characters Old Scratch: The Devil “Neither Negro nor Indian” (231) “…dressed in a rude half-Indian garb” (231) “his face… begrimed with soot, as if he had been accustomed to toil among fires and forges.” (231) “…had a shock of coarse black hair… and bore an ax on his shoulder” (231)

K3. Summarize the plot Tom takes a shortcut home through the swamp. He reached the old Indian fort at dusk and rested on a fallen tree. He encounters “a great black man” with “a pair of great red eyes”. The Devil. He and the Devil talk and the Devil reveals that he has control of Kidd the pirate’s treasure. The Devil offers Tom a deal – his soul for the money. Tom says he needs to think about it and goes home.

K3. Summarize the plot He talks to his wife about the deal and she is eager for him to accept. Because of this, he refuses to spite her. Tom’s wife decides to go the Indian fort to try to strike her own deal. She disappears. The most likely story is that she fought with the Devil and he killed her. All that was found of her was he heart and liver tied up in her apron. Tom goes back to find the Devil, thank him for killing his wife, and accept his deal.

K3. Summarize the plot. The Devil first asks Tom to be a slave-trader; he refuses because he is not that immoral. Tom agrees to open a broker shop and become a usurer for the Devil’s money. He builds a quick reputation as a loan shark. He is successful because Boston is a in “public distress” (236) As Tom got older, he began to regret his deal with the Devil. He became a “violent churchgoer” (237) and always carried “a small Bible in his coat pocket”(237). He started to go a little crazy and buried his horse upside down so that he could make a getaway when he was sent to Hell.

K3. Summarize the plot. A friend comes to Tom to ask for an extension on his loan payment. Tom claims hard-times and press the man for his payment. He says “The Devil take me…if I have made a farthing”(238). The Devil shows up and takes him away. All of Tom’s “ill-gotten wealth”(239) is “reduced to cinders” and all of his other possessions are burned to the ground.

K4. Describe the trees that surround the Indian fort. The trees are marked with the name of a wealthy proprietor, each of which has made a deal with the devil The Devil has hewn through the trees marked with a dead man’s name “…fair and flourishing” on the outside and yet “rotten at the core.” (231)

Tom does the Devil’s bidding and the Devil gets his soul. K5. What are the conditions of the “deal” made between Tom and the Devil? Tom does the Devil’s bidding and the Devil gets his soul.

K6. What does Tom’s wife do after he talks to her about the Devil’s offer? She decides to strike a deal of her own. “At length she was determined to drive the bargain on her own account.” (233) The Devil rejects her, so she takes all of the household valuables to give him an offering.

K7. Ultimately, what happens to Tom’s wife? She disappears. There are many stories surrounding her disappearance She got lost in the swamp She ran away with the household valuables She was lured into a quagmire and drowned Most likely story She and the Devil fought and the Devil killed her.

K8. What does the devil want Tom to do for the money? Be a slave-trader Why won’t he do it? He still has a conscience What does he finally agree to do? Be a usurer; a loan shark

K9. Describe Tom’s life after he makes the deal with the Devil? Tom becomes an extremely wealthy man. He builds a huge house, but leaves most of it “unfinished and unfurnished” (237) because he is still a cheap guy.

K10. How does Tom try to cheat the Devil? He begins to go to church and “pray loudly and strenuously” (237) He also carries a small Bible with him wherever he goes and keeps a large Bible on his desk.

K11. What ultimately happens to Tom? He is taken by the Devil, never to be seen again.

A1. How does Tom know he has met the Devil? He hears that Deacon Peabody is dead – as the Devil said (the fallen tree) The Devil left his signature, a thumbprint to Tom’s forehead “When Tom reached home, he found the black print of a finger, burnt, as it were, into his forehead, which nothing could obliterate.” (233)

A2. How does he differ from our traditional perception? “Old Scratch” appears more human-like than supernatural.

A3. Why doesn’t Tom accept the devil’s offer immediately? Tom is not prone to letting his wife in on secrets involving money “…he was determined not to do so to oblige his wife; so he flatly refused out of the mere spirit of contradiction.” (233) “…but the more she talked, the more resolute was Tom not to be damned to please her.”

A4. What motivates Tom’s wife to meet with the Devil? Greed and spite. She wants money and is mad that Tom won’t accept the deal. What motivates Tom to meet again with the Devil? “He even felt something like gratitude towards the black woodsman, who, he considered, had done him a kindness.” (235) Compare and contrast Tom and his wife’s motivation for meeting with the Devil. Tom meets with the Devil out of greed, but more out of gratitude. Tom’s wife meets with the Devil out of greed and spite.

A5. Compare and contrast Tom before his deal and after. Miserly Money-hungry Miserable Stuck Miserly Money-hungry “a friend in need” A little crazy (in the end)

E1. What the following symbolize? Old Scratch = Temptation Tom Walker = Greed Boston = Corruption The Bible = Protection The Indian fort = Hell The Trees =Moral decay

E2. What are possible themes for this story? (theme = universal idea) Temptation Greed Dishonesty Salvation Domestic dispute Wickedness Hypocrisy

“The Devil and Tom Walker”