The Devil And Tom Walker

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1824

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Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

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Literary Devices

Fictional Narrator

Irving frequently wrote under pseudonyms for a playful or humorous effect. Tales of a Traveler is written under the pseudonym of Geoffrey Crayon (which Irving had used before in his writings), but the “Money Diggers” group of stories which includes “The Devil and Tom Walker” is the exception to this: It is described as “found among the papers of the late Diedrich Knickerbocker.” This character, a Dutch New York historian and expert in local lore, is also the supposed author of Irving’s tales “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

The use of a fictional narrator for “The Devil and Tom Walker” serves as a distancing device, making the story seem more remote in time and place and adding another layer to the telling of the story; Irving seems to be out of the picture, thus absolving himself of responsibility for the tale. The device also creates an illusion of historical truth: We are made to believe that we are reading a true account that has been handed down for generations. Several times during the tale, the narrator (Knickerbocker) refers to the “authentic” nature of the story he is relating and expresses doubt about the veracity of this or that point. Thus, while “The Devil and Tom Walker” was in fact composed by Irving from different strands of folklore, the fictional narrator makes readers feel as if they are reading a unified, authentic old legend.

Using a fictional narrator also makes the supernatural aspects of the tale seem easier to swallow. Readers do not have to believe the story is true, only that it is believed to be true. If readers so choose, they can look down upon the New Englanders of the tale as quaint and credulous for believing in spirits and demonic influence. Irving’s device thus flatters readers by allowing them to feel, if only briefly, superior to the people depicted in the story. Even so, in the end readers must confront the moral truth of the tale and apply it to their own lives: “Let all griping money-brokers lay this story to heart” (232). Irving thus draws a universal meaning out of what began as a regional ghost story from America’s past.

Allegory

Allegory is a literary device in which characters, places, or objects stand for spiritual or moral ideas. The purpose of allegory is usually to teach a moral lesson. Thus, the moral lesson of “The Devil and Tom Walker” is that selfishness and greed lead to self-destruction. Sinful behavior results in punishment. Irving conveys this moral by using symbols such as the swamp with its rotting trees (see Symbols and Motifs) to suggest the idea of the moral decay of the soul. The entire story reads as an allegory of American history and how various groups have compromised with evil for their own material gain. The Walkers’s flawed marriage is an allegory of how the quest for money was, in Irving’s view, destroying family stability and values in the early Republic.

Irony

Irony serves to underline the obliviousness and moral blindness of the characters in the story. Tom declares “Let the freebooter roast!” (225) and denies that he has made ill-gotten money as a usurer (231), unaware that he is condemning himself by making these statements. A moment of strong irony occurs when the devil accuses White people of being “savages” for exterminating the American Indian population (224). By condemning certain social practices through the mouth of the devil himself, Irving makes a satirical indictment of some Americans for their pride in thinking themselves the most advanced race. A similar irony lies in the fact that the devil consigns some of the most admired and prominent citizens of Boston (such as Deacon Peabody and Absalom Crowninshield) to damnation. Thus, in their complacency and self-regard the Puritans are unaware of the moral evil in their midst.

Imagery

Throughout the story Irving makes use of images that foreshadow or symbolize the moral disaster that befalls Tom Walker. This includes the imagery of the swamp with its mud and pitfalls (221), earthquakes (220), a human skull (222), rotting trees (223), roasting (225), vultures (227), a thunderbolt and a blaze of fire (232), and Old Scratch’s descent into the mud suggesting his descent into Hell (225). (See also Symbols and Motifs.)

Historical Allusion

The story refers to various persons and events from history, including the legendary pirate William Kidd, the prominent Crowninshield family, and the speculating frenzy that occurred under the administration of Massachusetts Governor Belcher (229). These allusions help to situate the story in American history and, as with the use of the fictional narrator, give it an air of verisimilitude; we feel as if we are reading an account of real events, or at least a real legend that has been passed down.