About Washington Irving
Washington Irving was born on 3rd April 1783 and died on 28th November 1859. He was an author and an essay writer. He was also a biographer and an historian. Irving has written a wide range of short stories. For example, he has written the legend of ‘sleepy hollow’ and ‘the Rip Van Winkle’. The stories are found on the sketch book of ‘Geoffrey crayon, gent’. Apart from writing short stories, he has also written historical works like the biographies of ‘George Washington’ and ‘Oliver Goldsmith’. He has also written a biographer of ‘Muhammad’. In addition, the author has written various histories of the 15th century. The histories revolve around Christopher Columbus and the moors. He has also focused on Alhambra. Irving worked as a US minister to Spain for 4 years. That is from 1842 to 1846 (Irving 2007).
The book ‘the devil and Tom walker’ is a book written by the Washington Irving. The book revolves around Tom walker, his wife and the devil. The story is narrated in first person by Geoffrey Crayon. The author has used a fictional character to narrate the story. The use of first person narration in the book has made it easy for the author to convey his message and also add to the feeling of the reader. This is because the author is able to tell the story the way oral traditions are told. The characters in the story include Tom who is the protagonist, his wife and the devil. Tom’s wife has characteristics that are similar to ones shown by Tom. First, she is misery like her husband. Also, Tom’s wife is evil like her husband. This is because she cheats her husband by taking the wealth. On the other hand, Tom is also evil as he cheats other people and takes advantage of them. For example, he cheats his wife and the devil. The Devil is portrayed as being generous as he gives wealth to Tom. He is also evil as he takes advantage of Tom and his wife (Irving 2007).
The author has analyzed various themes in his book. For example, the author has analyzed the theme of greediness. The theme is portrayed by Tom. Tom is portrayed as being greed in the book. Tom who is the main character is greedy and selfish. He is also considered a miser. Apart from being greedy, he adores money more than his wife and he is willing to do anything to get rid of his wife and become rich. Tom and his wife have lived have lived a poor life for many years and this has forced Tom to start working with the devil (Irving 2007).
In the book, Tom agrees with the devil to offer Tom the wealth hidden by Captain kidd. On the other hand, Tom agrees to give his soul so as to be able to get the wealth. Tom does not decline the offer and he informs his wife. Tom does not consider the effect of the offer on his life and his wife. Tom’s actions have a negative impact on his life and wife. First, Tom’s greediness leads to the death of his wife. Tom’s wife takes all the goods in the house and goes to make a deal with the devil. It also leads to loss of property as Tom looses his property after his wife takes the valuables to the devil. After searching for his wife and the property, Tom finds his wife’s heart and liver tied to a tree. Tom is blinded by the kindness of the devil and this makes it hard for him to make the right decision (Irving 2007).
Additionally, Tom is greedy as he does not want to share his property with his wife. Tom calls off his deal with the devil so as to avoid sharing his wealth with her. After learning that his wife is dead, Tom bargains with the old scratch. Tom claims that his wife was abusive and he did not treat him well. After learning about his wife’s death, Tom was happy as he would not share the wealth. Also, his wife would not abuse him. Tom tries to swindle money from people until he starts realizing his life after. Apart from being mean to his wife, Tom exploits other people in the society. Tom cheats people in the society because of his greed and he gets money from them. Though, Tom gets enough money from the devil and other people, he does not use it well. For example, he does not feed his horses. Also, he does not furnish his house (Irving 2007).
Moreover, the author shows the theme of hypocrisy in his book. This is evidenced by Tom. Tom claims that he does not carry put slave trade, but he participates in slave trade. This is because poor people in the society make money for him. This is considered to be a king of slavery. Tom pretends to be a money lender, but he benefits by impoverishing people via malicious practices. In addition, hypocrisy is shown Tom’s relationship with customers. Tom insists on keeping his deal with customers, but he conspires to cheat the devil. Tom’s religious beliefs are not inline with Christian beliefs and belief in God, but he tries to save himself from the devil and hell. In the book, Tom denies to have made money from a land speculator, though he pretended to be friends with the land speculator (Irving 2007).
The book also explores moral corruption in the society as shown by the behaviors depicted by the characters. For example, Tom is morally corrupt as he is involved in corrupt deals. Tom is a corrupt money lender as he is involved in illegal activities so as to swindle money from other people. Also, Tom thinks that selling his soul will help him become rich. Also, the moral corruption is evidenced by Tom’s action to become a Christian. Tom becomes a Christian so as to protect his personal interest, but not to belief in God. This does not help him as he is caught by the devil at long last and he is forced to pay for getting his wealth illegally. Lastly, the book shows good versus evil. The characters in the book are not able to differentiate what is good and what is evil. For example, Tom and his wife are not able to differentiate what is good and evil (Irving 2007).
Reference
Irving, W.The Devil and Tom Walker. Perfection Learning, 2007
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