that ill-considered bargain. Tom disappears forever, leaving behind only the remnants of his previous life. Irving describes the scene as follows:

"Trustees were appointed to take charge of Tom's effects. There was nothing, however, to administer upon. On searching his coffers all his bonds and mortgages were found reduced to cinders. In place of gold and silver his iron chest was filled with chips and shavings; two skeletons lay in his stable instead of his half starved horses, and the very next day his great house took fire and was burnt to the ground. Such was the end of Tom Walker and his ill gotten wealth."

The disintegration and destruction of Tom's material wealth symbolizes the fleeting nature of life, and the fragility of one's standing. The old proverb "you can't take it with you" captures well the situation in which Tom finds himself. He has accumulated great material wealth, but at the expense of his soul--the one part of him that is immortal.

Irving is trying to show the temporal nature of all things through this symbolism. Money turning to worthless chips, horses reduced to skeletons, and the destruction of a house by fire all point to one thing: Everything passes away, and all things are temporary in this life.

This symbolism is similar to other authors, who turn humans to dust, wilt flowers or plants, or use a number of other symbolic devices to demonstrate the passing nature of life. In any literary work, when an author reduces something to its simplest form or its base, that author is normally trying to display the simplicity and fleeting nature of that thing, whatever it may be.

Washington Irving, when selecting a title for his short story about a somewhat pathetic, downtrodden and unhappily-married man named Tom Walker and this character's encounter with the devil, The Devil and Tom Walker, was probably emphasizing the centrality to his narrative of the enduring relationship between the two titular figures. While Old Scratch, as Tom addresses this mysterious figure he encounters in the woods, figures only briefly in the beginning and end of his story, Irving almost certainly wanted to ensure that the ill-considered arrangement to which Tom agrees during that encounter remains in the reader's subconscious. 

Tom Walker's deal with Satan, as is usually the case when fictional characters seek professional and financial advancement via unholy arrangements, involves his agreement to turn over his soul to the devil in exchange for that advancement in "this" life. Whether Tom is fully cognizant of the complete details of his agreement with Old Scratch is not really certain. After all, Irving rushes through the arduous process of negotiating in deference to brevity and, ultimately, surprise. The following passage from The Devil and Tom Walker constitutes the totality of this process:

"The black man told him of great sums of money which had been buried by Kidd the pirate, under the oak trees on the high ridge not far from the morass. All these were under his command and protected by his power, so that none could find them but such as propitiated his favour. These he offered to place within Tom Walker's reach, having conceived an especial kindness for him: but they were to be had only on certain conditions. What these conditions were, may easily be surmised, though Tom never disclosed them publicly."

As noted, actual appearances of the devil in Irving's story are fleeting. They are, however, absolutely central to the narrative. Much of the story details Tom's exploitation of those in need of financial assistance with an emphasis on his extreme greed and narcissism. The story ends with a very brief and very sudden return of Old Scratch. The devil's presence, however, is felt throughout the story, and the author's decision to title his story The Devil and Tom Walker served to emphasize the former's inordinate if unseen role in the latter's life. The devil may have been unseen, but he was always by Tom's side.

Your question points towards the fact that this story can be read satirically. It is important to realise that Washington Irving is updating an archetypal story concerning men trying to deal with the Devil but always losing in the end. One of the earliest examples is the legend of Faust, a sixteenth century philosopher who sells his soul to the devil for knowledge and power but eventually is claimed by the devil for his own and taken down to hell to suffer for eternity.

If we think of this story as a satire, then, it is clear that Irving is mocking greed, stinginess, religious intolerance, spiritual hypocrisy and the inhumane treatment of others. He criticises the Puritans for their persecution of Quakers and Anabaptists, the Salem witch trials, and their practice of usury - lending money at exorbitant interest. Irving is therefore providing us with an updated version of this classic archetype to show how the Devil may not be too far from America and the exploits of its population. Note what the Devil says to Tom:

"Since the red men have been exterminated by you white savages, I amuse myself by presiding at the persecutions of Quakers and Anabaptists; I am the great patron and prompter of slave dealers, and the grand master of the Salem witches."

Therefore, through this tale Irving is satirically providing a comment on Puritans and their exploits in the new land, which ironically they thought would allow them to get closer to God.