Questions and Answers for The Devil and Tom Walker
The Devil and Tom Walker
How is the story " The Devil and Tom Walker" an example of Romanticism? Need 3 reasons why its an example of...
Romanticism was a movement in the arts that began as a revolt against the scientific rationalism after the Industrial Revolution. Possessed of a distrust of industry and the city life, Romanticism...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What happens to Tom's wife in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
After hearing Tom's report of the deal he had been offered by the devil, whereby he could basically "sell his soul" in return for great wealth (the gold buried by Kidd the pirate), Tom's wife goes...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What are some examples of characterization in The Devil and Tom Walker?
The characterization in this story is a mixture of direct and indirect characterization. Indirect characterization occurs when the reader must deduce for himself or herself the characteristics of...
The Devil and Tom Walker
In "The Devil and Tom Walker," what is symbolic about the rotted trees in the forest?
When "Old Scratch," the devil, shows Tom Walker a tree that seemed to be healthy and vigorous but had been scored by an ax to reveal a rotten core, Deacon Peabody's name is cut into it. "Old...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What are three examples of sarcastic humour in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
In this brilliant satire by Washington Irving there are certainly any number of examples of humour to pick from. You might however want to analyse the presentation of Tom and his wife, and the kind...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What are some examples of how satire is used in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
When Irving's narrator is establishing the setting of the story, it is described as "about the year 1727, just at the time when earthquakes were prevalent in New England, and shook many tall...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What agreement does Tom Walker ultimately make with the devil?
The agreement between Tom Walker and the the devil in "The Devil and Tom Walker" has a variety of terms and conditions. According to the most basic terms of the deal, the devil promises to give Tom...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What lesson can be learned from the story "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
The most significant lesson to be learned from Washington Irving's short story concerns the harmful effects of unrestrained greed and malice. Throughout the short story, Tom Walker is a miserly...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What are some imagery statements from "The Devil and Tom Walker?"
Imagery, as the name implies, is a description in accordance with human senses, often with emphasis upon certain details or interpretations which associate the imagery with emotion. The same scene,...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What are three supernatural elements in "The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving?
First, a sense of the supernatural infests the ominous swamp that Tom Walker is not afraid to cross (though others are) on the way home. He behaves as if he is oblivious to its dangers, and...
The Devil and Tom Walker
How does the author communicate his opinion of the Puritan attitude through Tom Walker's statements.
An early indication that Washington Irving was about to satirize the Quaker and Puritan influences that permeated New England during the period he depicts in his short story “The Devil and Tom...
The Devil and Tom Walker
How does Irving create humor in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
In "The Devil and Tom Walker," a story that is an indictment against American economics and dealings as driven by greed, Washington Irving employs satire. He also satirizes religious hypocrisy and...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What character traits does Tom Walker exemplify in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
In Washington Irving's short story "The Devil and Tom Walker," the protagonist, Tom Walker, is described as a "meagre, miserly" fellow who conspires to cheat his wife—who is equally as meagre and...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What is the mood in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
The tone of a story is the author's attitude toward the subject, and the mood is the emotional landscape. The tone of the story changes the mood. So at the times when the story is satirical, you...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What is the setting of the story "The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving?
There are basically three physical settings, all in New England, which provide the backdrop for Washington Irving's tale "The Devil and Tom Walker." The time is "about" 1727, when New England was a...
The Devil and Tom Walker
Explain the symbolism of the following: Tom Walker’s house, the swamp, darkness, and the Bible buried under the...
Interestingly, there are actually two houses you might discuss in "The Devil and Tom Walker," though both largely symbolize much the same thing: they are outward expressions of the internal...
The Devil and Tom Walker
How does Irving show that he does not approve of slavery in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
When Tom Walker meets the Devil, the Devil tells him, "I am the great patron and prompter of slave-dealers." Therefore, Irving suggests that slave traders are diabolical and are associated with the...
The Devil and Tom Walker
Do you think Tom could have escaped the consequences of his bargain with Old Scratch in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
Tom Walker's behavior before he met "Old Scratch" was consistent with his behavior after he met him. He was obsessed with money and material goods, and he chronically battled with his wife because...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What does Tom do when he begins to regret his bargain with the devil?
Not long after making his bargain with the devil, Tom Walker begins to have a change of mind. This is shown clearly through the following line: Having secured the good things of this world, he...
The Devil and Tom Walker
When Tom says, "the devil take me .... if i have made a farthing" what is ironic about that?
Washington Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker" presents a rather wry portrait of a miserly man who will not make a deal with the devil not because he does not want to lose his soul, but because he...
The Devil and Tom Walker
Does Tom really change when he becomes religious in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
Tom Walker does not change as he ages; he merely grows fearful of the hereafter because he has sold his soul to the Devil. Washington Irving writes that as Tom grows older he begins to feel anxious...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What is Irving satirizing in the story, "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
Washington Irving cleverly satirizes the institution of marriage, Puritan culture, and the slave trade at various moments in the short story “The Devil and Tom Walker.” Irving satirizes the...
The Devil and Tom Walker
In "The Devil and Tom Walker", what characteristics of the setting can be considered Gothic?
"The Devil and Tom Walker" has elements of both Gothic and Romantic literature, partly because the influences of these genres overlapped the time period in which it was written. Romantic literature...
The Devil and Tom Walker
In "The Devil and Tom Walker," what is the relationship between Tom and his wife?
“The Devil and Tom Walker” is an 1824 short story written by Washington Irving and appearing in his Tales of a Traveller collection. Tom and his wife have a combative and secretive relationship,...
The Devil and Tom Walker
How is nature used in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
In "the Devil and Tom Walker," Washington Irving uses natural surroundings to convey both mood and meaning. When Tom Walker first encounters "Old Scratch," the black man wearing a red sash, he is...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What are the conflicts in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
There appear to be any number of different conflicts that occur in this masterful short story by Washington Irving. These are mainly external conflicts, that is conflicts that are between people...
The Devil and Tom Walker
Describe Tom's house in "The Devil and Tom Walker."
Tom Walker and his equally miserly wife live in a house in New England that "stood alone and had a look of starvation." This "forlorn-looking" building is surrounded by a few scrawny, sterile trees...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What are the moods in the story, "The Devil and Tom Walker"? How does Irving create humor in the story?
Even though the story is one based on a dark legend of one selling his soul to the devil for personal gain, Irving tells it with wry humor. When Irving describes both Tom Walker and his wife, he...
The Devil and Tom Walker
How does "The Devil and Tom Walker" end? Why did the author end it this way?
"The Devil and Tom Walker" ends when Tom is shouting at his customer, whom he's about to ruin financially to make a profit for himself, even though they are supposed to be friends. When this...
The Devil and Tom Walker
How is satire used in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
Satire is the use of hyperbole, irony, and humor to critique people, institutions, and even social norms. The purpose of satire is to alert people to crucial problems in society and to encourage...
The Devil and Tom Walker
Describe Tom Walker and his wife.
Tom Walker and his wife are extremely greedy, insensitive people who are both willing to sell their souls to the devil in exchange for wealth. At the beginning of the short story, Tom's unhealthy...
The Devil and Tom Walker
In "The Devil and Tom Walker" what does the description of their house and horse indicate about the Walkers?
In the exposition of Washington Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker," the descriptions of the Walkers' "forlorn-looking" house and the "miserable" horse that have "an air of starvation" about them...
The Devil and Tom Walker
In "The Devil and Tom Walker," what inferences can you make about how the trees and the swamp (lines 40–47), the hewn...
The trees and the swamp support a grim, foreboding mood that characterizes Tom Walker as an unpleasant character. He is hard already, willing to take risks that would repel the average person. He...
The Devil and Tom Walker
Do you feel that Tom Walker deserved his fate?
Like many readers, I certainly feel that Tom Walker deserved his fate in Washington Irving's short story "The Devil and Tom Walker." Our first introduction to Tom is brief and to the point; he is...
The Devil and Tom Walker
Is the message of "The Devil and Tom Walker" about bad moneylenders, bad people meeting evil, or most people being...
I think a good theme for the story is "We reap what we sow." If we only go around worrying about ourselves and what we can get out of a situation to benefit us, then we have truly...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What are some quotes in 'The Devil and Tom Walker' that deal with romanticism?
A characteristic of Romanticism is a rejection of organized religion. Tom Walker's conversion to vigorous Christianity in his schemes to cheat the devil shows off the worst of organized religion...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What was Tom's reaction to the death of his wife in Washington Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker?"
The Devil and Tom Walker is the kind of story that has a great moral lesson to it. The devil wants to make a deal with Tom Walker, but Tom isn't so sure. He goes home to talk it over with his wife....
The Devil and Tom Walker
What are examples of strong imagery in the "The Devil and Tom Walker" and what mood does this imagery create?
Washington Irving employs strong natural imagery to establish a mood capturing the fear of supernatural forces that pervaded the Puritan colonies. The landscape outside the Puritan settlement is...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What moral the reader is supposed to learn from "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
The moral in “The Devil in Tom Walker” is that if you sell your soul to the devil to get what you want, it will end up destroying you. When we say “sell your soul” it is usually a metaphor. In...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What details from "The Devil and Tom Walker" refer to the devil's dealings in America?
In Washington Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker," there are several mentions of the devil's influence or presence in America's "goings on." When he and Tom Walker initially meet in the woods, the...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What happened to Tom's money, horses, and house in the end?
Good question! Many readers stop paying attention to the text after they find out that the devil has carried Tom away on his black horse, into the swamp, which is struck by lightning and bursts...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What are the various names given to the stranger in the woods?
Though Tom doesn't recognize the man he encounters in the swamp as the devil right away, it doesn't take him long. Washington Irving describes the man, saying, Tom lifted up his eyes and beheld a...
The Devil and Tom Walker
In "The Devil and Tom Walker", what occupation does Tom eagerly accept?
Tom eagerly accepts the occupation of usurer, which is a somewhat outdated term for a person who lends money at an unreasonably high rate of interest. As part of his agreement with "Old Scratch"...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What do the names carved into the trees represent in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
In addition, the downed trees have names engraved on them that Tom recognizes. These people he remembers as being "wealthy and important" to society in the past, and should have been his...
The Devil and Tom Walker
In "The Devil and Tom Walker", is there any way Tom could have gotten out of the deal with the Devil?
The fact that this question is being asked gives some insight into Tom's behavior later in the story. In short, Tom probably couldn't do anything to change his fate, but people tend to look for...
The Devil and Tom Walker
Where is a metaphor in "The Devil and Tom Walker" ?
How's this? "Tom's wife was a tall termagant." A termagant is "a violent, turbulent, or brawling woman. or When Tom sticks his walking stick into the ground he finds a human skull with an...
The Devil and Tom Walker
What is Tom's attitude before the bargain in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
Tom Walker is an appropriate target for the Devil because he possesses the requisite vice that will eventually draw him to the bargain offered him. First of all, Walker and his wife are tightfisted...
The Devil and Tom Walker
Explain the Dark Romanticism in "The Devil and Tom Walker."
Dark Romanticism is a form of literature that uses the mysterious and dark settings characteristic of Romanticism as a whole in ways that are often threatening and scary. Dark Romantic settings are...
The Devil and Tom Walker
In Washington Irving's The Devil and Tom Walker, what does Tom do to cause the narrator to call him a "violent...
In Washington Irving’s short story The Devil and Tom Walker, Tom is not a good man. Described upon his introduction as a “meager miserly fellow,” he will be presented as the personification of...
The Devil and Tom Walker
In "The Devil and Tom Walker", how is Tom a hypocrite?
The most significant way in which Tom displays hypocrisy is through religion. Tom has cut a deal with the Devil (here named Old Scratch) to trade his soul for a buried pirate treasure. Tom is...
Showing 1-50 of 393