Literary Criticism
Source: Moss, Joyce and Geroge Wilson Washington Irving: `The Devil and Tom Walker', in Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them, Volume 1: Ancient Times to the American and French Revolutions (Prehistory-1790s), Gale Research, 1997. Stratford High School Library Resource Center. Web. 26 September 2012
In this article of Literary criticism for The Devil and Tom Walker by Joyce Moss and George Wilson, Moss and Wilson point out some key themes and ideas behind the short story, including greed and selfishness, and also focuses on the events that influenced Irving's story.
In their overview of the main plot, Moss and Wilson go over the main theme of the story, which is greed. In the article they state, "While Irving's characters are exaggerated for comic effect, he exposes elements of miserliness, greed, hypocrisy, and spiritual decay that existed in early eighteenth-century New England." (5). The authors state this, and then go into detail and quotes from the book to support these ideas. These ideas enhance and support the plot in the story to show exactly why Tom made his deal with the Devil, and what led him to do so. Another theme the authors bring up in their article is arrogance to the truth, stating that "Throughout the story, [Tom] remains oblivious to signs of his impending doom. He disregards the fact that the Devil is chopping down trees that represent sinners, and the evidence of his wife's death does not affect his decision. Perhaps Washington Irving saw a similar blindness in society around him and used Tom's foolhardy behavior to drive the point home to his readers."(5) This idea is supported throughout the story because Irving is constantly making Tom look like an arrogant fool, telling his readers not to be blind to the world, because in the end it will end horribly.
Another subject the authors review in their criticism is exactly why Irving wrote The Devil and Tom Walker the way he did. The authors point out some of the historical events that attributed to Irving's plot, stating, "The Grimm brothers of Germany, for example, published Kinder und Housmarchen, a collection of folk tales that had supposedly been gathered directly from German peasants. Many people considered these tales to contain some lost essence of true German spirit. Inspired by the Grimm brothers, hosts of other writers began to scour their own countries for legends, tales, and anecdotes, which they considered relics of a purer but dying way of life. In The Devil and Tom Walker, Irving similarly turned from the hard science of the nineteenth century to the more magical past, incorporating legends and superstitions about the Devil as an essential ingredient of the plot." (7) Overall, the authors are stating that the revolution of romanticism in the time period that Irving wrote his short story greatly attributes to the plot, setting, and meaning behind the story.
The points made and reviewed in this article help the reader understand Irving's main points and reasoning behind The Devil and Tom Walker, making the story even more enjoyable and meaningful than before. -Kendall Ward
Piedmont-Marton, Elizabeth. "An overview of "The Devil and Tom Walker"."
Short Stories for Students, Gale Research, 1997. Stratford High school Library resource center. Web.
27 September 2012
In An overview of "The Devil and Tom Walker" by Elizabeth Piedmont-Marton, Piedmont-Marton writes about many important concepts that are present in Washington Irving's The Devil and Tom Walker, such as the audience's idolization of "perfect" America, the introduction of a fictional narrator, the faults in connecting with the audience, the malformed structure of a fictional sketch, and most importantly the relative allusions that helped describe American history.
Washington Irving most pointedly makes critical suggestions about American history, and It's tendency to " suggest that this is a community content to bury and forget old atrocities, and, more broadly, that the nation eager to bury its own history is doomed to be haunted by it."(1) as Piedmont-Marton states in her overview. This defines how Americans makes too many mistakes and often hide it away as a resolution to the still-existing problems, which can lead to disastrous results in the relatively near future. Irving uses a plethora of metaphors and allusions to display the notion that "the American tendency toward quick fixes and quick profits"(1) is the only representation of all Americans, which avidly describes his opposition to the adoration of the "perfect" America. Piedmont-Marton perfectly describes Irving's process of using many literary concepts to prove his point, which can aid in helping a confused audience.
A confused audience is what Washington Irving often received along with harsh critical reviews of his many short stories. Piedmont-Marton states that "occasionally [his] allegory gets in the way of the story"(1), which she read from another author (Mary Weatherspoon Bowden) in another criticism article (Washington Irving) of Irving Literary works. Common fictional characters and items tended to confuse the reader as they were quickly mentioned for exposition and just as quickly forgotten and never mentioned again. Irving had minor faults in this plot of his story, as "neither the pirate Kidd nor the treasure, not having any allegorical work to do, ever reappear after the first paragraph" (1) as Piedmont-Marton mentions towards the end of her review.
Both of these main points cover the general concept of what Elizabeth Piedmont-Morton successfully explained about Washington Irvin's masterpiece of The Devil and Tom Walker, and help the many readers of his work better understand it's deeper meaning. -Dakota Ransom
link to literary criticism source; http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&locID=tlc049202926&srchtp=kywrd&c=2&stab=512&ste=41&tab=2&tbst=ksrch&KA=%22The+Devil+and+Tom+Walker%22&n=10&docNum=H1420002229&bConts=3719
Washington Irving: `The Devil and Tom Walker', in Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them, Volume 1: Ancient Times to the American and French Revolutions (Prehistory-1790s), edited by Joyce Moss and George Wilson, Gale Research, 1997. Stratford High School Library Resource Center. 27, September, 2012.
In the article in the Gale research page, it describes many subtopics about the book "The devil and Tom Walker". Two main topics that this article made in the sub-article that was named as "Events in History that took place at the time the short story took place" this part of the article really emphasized the idea of business and society at the time and actually made it obvious to why Tom Walker made the decisions while in the positions he was in, another topic that this area covered was the deal with money, while money being a very important part in the book this section becomes important to help the reader understand why Tom Walker acted the way he did.
Business and society became a major role in this short story, while in history at the time the story took place there was a lot of common activity. At this time in history there was not a very reliable system in gaining wealth. The people living in this time period mainly relied on agriculture or slaves for a good sum of income. While in Boston the soil was not so fertile, and they had not many slaves. In turn they tried to have a tactic to help their soil which ended up depleting the little amount they had. While this was happening the natives from Germany, Ireland, and Scotland were leaving their homes for a better oportunity in the states. This caused some trouble, As the article states "The increasing number of settlers pushing onto the frontier made land speculation a prominent means of earning a living. The speculators were often unethical and invested only to make a quick profit. Some unscrupulous speculators sold lands they did not own, while others resold unsettled towns that were already occupied."(11). This quote displays the state of mind that Tom Walker would have had, and explains part of the reasons he made the rash decisions he made. Tom Walker would simply feel desperation at this time which he would think of a "time of need" and try to make money quick to not be thrown down to the likes of the poor, which he was very close to.
Another major topic in this story is Money. Money was he basis of what Tom Walker craved, he was a greedy man and made unthoughtful decisions that he late "regretted" but somehow never really felt that regret, because he was too blinded by all his wealth. In his time period money was a very difficult thing to obtain. They could not coin their own money and were not given money from the British making it impossible, luckily they did in fact have some paper money, but was hardly ever at use. Then there came a time where they saw an economic collapse coming their way. The article stated that. "As a response, the infamous Land Bank issued paper money that had no backing or definite value. Some people turned to usurers, also known as moneylenders, to finance risky ventures or to pay mounting debts. Usurers lent money to borrowers, who had to pay a fee or pay the amount back with interest. Often, the interest was very high. For someone like Tom Walker, who had gold and silver, money- lending was a very profitable business"(16). Through this quote we are informed on the situation Tom Walker was in. He needed money, he was greedy, and it would be a very easy deal with the devil. He had the gold and silver he could loan, charge unfair interest, and be rich. Now what Tom Walker did not see at the time was the cost of his actions. He fell into the pit of temptation and was unable to get out, due to his blinding greed.
Both of these points describe the idea of the story through the eyes of the author of this narrator. This also displays the background of the story and the reasoning of Tom Walkers actions. -Jasmin Cisneros
In this article of Literary criticism for The Devil and Tom Walker by Joyce Moss and George Wilson, Moss and Wilson point out some key themes and ideas behind the short story, including greed and selfishness, and also focuses on the events that influenced Irving's story.
In their overview of the main plot, Moss and Wilson go over the main theme of the story, which is greed. In the article they state, "While Irving's characters are exaggerated for comic effect, he exposes elements of miserliness, greed, hypocrisy, and spiritual decay that existed in early eighteenth-century New England." (5). The authors state this, and then go into detail and quotes from the book to support these ideas. These ideas enhance and support the plot in the story to show exactly why Tom made his deal with the Devil, and what led him to do so. Another theme the authors bring up in their article is arrogance to the truth, stating that "Throughout the story, [Tom] remains oblivious to signs of his impending doom. He disregards the fact that the Devil is chopping down trees that represent sinners, and the evidence of his wife's death does not affect his decision. Perhaps Washington Irving saw a similar blindness in society around him and used Tom's foolhardy behavior to drive the point home to his readers."(5) This idea is supported throughout the story because Irving is constantly making Tom look like an arrogant fool, telling his readers not to be blind to the world, because in the end it will end horribly.
Another subject the authors review in their criticism is exactly why Irving wrote The Devil and Tom Walker the way he did. The authors point out some of the historical events that attributed to Irving's plot, stating, "The Grimm brothers of Germany, for example, published Kinder und Housmarchen, a collection of folk tales that had supposedly been gathered directly from German peasants. Many people considered these tales to contain some lost essence of true German spirit. Inspired by the Grimm brothers, hosts of other writers began to scour their own countries for legends, tales, and anecdotes, which they considered relics of a purer but dying way of life. In The Devil and Tom Walker, Irving similarly turned from the hard science of the nineteenth century to the more magical past, incorporating legends and superstitions about the Devil as an essential ingredient of the plot." (7) Overall, the authors are stating that the revolution of romanticism in the time period that Irving wrote his short story greatly attributes to the plot, setting, and meaning behind the story.
The points made and reviewed in this article help the reader understand Irving's main points and reasoning behind The Devil and Tom Walker, making the story even more enjoyable and meaningful than before. -Kendall Ward
Piedmont-Marton, Elizabeth. "An overview of "The Devil and Tom Walker"."
Short Stories for Students, Gale Research, 1997. Stratford High school Library resource center. Web.
27 September 2012
In An overview of "The Devil and Tom Walker" by Elizabeth Piedmont-Marton, Piedmont-Marton writes about many important concepts that are present in Washington Irving's The Devil and Tom Walker, such as the audience's idolization of "perfect" America, the introduction of a fictional narrator, the faults in connecting with the audience, the malformed structure of a fictional sketch, and most importantly the relative allusions that helped describe American history.
Washington Irving most pointedly makes critical suggestions about American history, and It's tendency to " suggest that this is a community content to bury and forget old atrocities, and, more broadly, that the nation eager to bury its own history is doomed to be haunted by it."(1) as Piedmont-Marton states in her overview. This defines how Americans makes too many mistakes and often hide it away as a resolution to the still-existing problems, which can lead to disastrous results in the relatively near future. Irving uses a plethora of metaphors and allusions to display the notion that "the American tendency toward quick fixes and quick profits"(1) is the only representation of all Americans, which avidly describes his opposition to the adoration of the "perfect" America. Piedmont-Marton perfectly describes Irving's process of using many literary concepts to prove his point, which can aid in helping a confused audience.
A confused audience is what Washington Irving often received along with harsh critical reviews of his many short stories. Piedmont-Marton states that "occasionally [his] allegory gets in the way of the story"(1), which she read from another author (Mary Weatherspoon Bowden) in another criticism article (Washington Irving) of Irving Literary works. Common fictional characters and items tended to confuse the reader as they were quickly mentioned for exposition and just as quickly forgotten and never mentioned again. Irving had minor faults in this plot of his story, as "neither the pirate Kidd nor the treasure, not having any allegorical work to do, ever reappear after the first paragraph" (1) as Piedmont-Marton mentions towards the end of her review.
Both of these main points cover the general concept of what Elizabeth Piedmont-Morton successfully explained about Washington Irvin's masterpiece of The Devil and Tom Walker, and help the many readers of his work better understand it's deeper meaning. -Dakota Ransom
link to literary criticism source; http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&locID=tlc049202926&srchtp=kywrd&c=2&stab=512&ste=41&tab=2&tbst=ksrch&KA=%22The+Devil+and+Tom+Walker%22&n=10&docNum=H1420002229&bConts=3719
Washington Irving: `The Devil and Tom Walker', in Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them, Volume 1: Ancient Times to the American and French Revolutions (Prehistory-1790s), edited by Joyce Moss and George Wilson, Gale Research, 1997. Stratford High School Library Resource Center. 27, September, 2012.
In the article in the Gale research page, it describes many subtopics about the book "The devil and Tom Walker". Two main topics that this article made in the sub-article that was named as "Events in History that took place at the time the short story took place" this part of the article really emphasized the idea of business and society at the time and actually made it obvious to why Tom Walker made the decisions while in the positions he was in, another topic that this area covered was the deal with money, while money being a very important part in the book this section becomes important to help the reader understand why Tom Walker acted the way he did.
Business and society became a major role in this short story, while in history at the time the story took place there was a lot of common activity. At this time in history there was not a very reliable system in gaining wealth. The people living in this time period mainly relied on agriculture or slaves for a good sum of income. While in Boston the soil was not so fertile, and they had not many slaves. In turn they tried to have a tactic to help their soil which ended up depleting the little amount they had. While this was happening the natives from Germany, Ireland, and Scotland were leaving their homes for a better oportunity in the states. This caused some trouble, As the article states "The increasing number of settlers pushing onto the frontier made land speculation a prominent means of earning a living. The speculators were often unethical and invested only to make a quick profit. Some unscrupulous speculators sold lands they did not own, while others resold unsettled towns that were already occupied."(11). This quote displays the state of mind that Tom Walker would have had, and explains part of the reasons he made the rash decisions he made. Tom Walker would simply feel desperation at this time which he would think of a "time of need" and try to make money quick to not be thrown down to the likes of the poor, which he was very close to.
Another major topic in this story is Money. Money was he basis of what Tom Walker craved, he was a greedy man and made unthoughtful decisions that he late "regretted" but somehow never really felt that regret, because he was too blinded by all his wealth. In his time period money was a very difficult thing to obtain. They could not coin their own money and were not given money from the British making it impossible, luckily they did in fact have some paper money, but was hardly ever at use. Then there came a time where they saw an economic collapse coming their way. The article stated that. "As a response, the infamous Land Bank issued paper money that had no backing or definite value. Some people turned to usurers, also known as moneylenders, to finance risky ventures or to pay mounting debts. Usurers lent money to borrowers, who had to pay a fee or pay the amount back with interest. Often, the interest was very high. For someone like Tom Walker, who had gold and silver, money- lending was a very profitable business"(16). Through this quote we are informed on the situation Tom Walker was in. He needed money, he was greedy, and it would be a very easy deal with the devil. He had the gold and silver he could loan, charge unfair interest, and be rich. Now what Tom Walker did not see at the time was the cost of his actions. He fell into the pit of temptation and was unable to get out, due to his blinding greed.
Both of these points describe the idea of the story through the eyes of the author of this narrator. This also displays the background of the story and the reasoning of Tom Walkers actions. -Jasmin Cisneros