This instance of Tom finding only his wifes heart and liver in the apron is a metaphor how greed leads to negative consequences in ones life. Atwoods use of a relaxed, humorous and personal tone means she can connect more with the audience allowing her to express to them her complex ideas and values on women in literature. These are used to enhance the symbols, motifs, and themes within the plot. He [Tom Walker] had also a great folio Bible on his counting-house desk, and would frequently be found reading it when people called on business; on such occasions he would lay his green spectacles in the book, to mark the place, while he turned round to drive some usurious bargain. All literary elements are correctly identified. He will later surprise Tom again when he knocks on Toms counting house door at the end of the story to send Tom to his doom. The Devil and Tom Walker is a short story published in 1824 by Washington Irving. The use of a humorous metaphor and religious allusion comparing to job of a novelist to Gods creation of the world one detail at a time emphasises the difficulty of writing and appeals to the religious beliefs of the audience. Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. The story first recounts the legend of the pirate William Kidd, who is rumored to have buried a large treasure in a forest in colonial Massachusetts. Irving presents the wife and the devil as the perfect pair. Tom is so spiritually blind that he persists in thinking about the swamp in terms of property rights, even after he sees the mens names carved into trees. The women stand together away from the men, which immediately puts the men against the women. Stephen Vincent Bent drew much of his inspiration for "The Devil and Daniel Webster" from this tale. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. Give an example from the text in the description box. Tom meets the devil, Old Scratch, at an abandoned Indian fort hidden away in the swamplands. One day, while taking a shortcut home through a swampy forest near an old Indian fortress, Tom Walker runs into the devil incarnate, here taking the form of a swarthy, soot-covered . The contrast between what expected and what actually happens. I both stories, the characters face a struggle regarding both their household and the men within them, and must go to great lengths to overcome them. We know that there are five main characters, three men and two women. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1725 titles we cover. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. Just then there were three loud knocks at the street door. His black fate anticipates those of . He had left his little Bible at the bottom of his coat-pocket, and his big Bible on the desk buried under the mortgage he was about to foreclose: never was sinner taken more unawares. The story is very similar to the German legend of Faust . The detail of the still-existing holes under the trunks gives the story a sense of being historical, of being true. A black man was holding a black horse which neighed and stamped with impatience. Although the story has many elements in it, symbolism is seen the most. They lived in a tarnished-looking house that had stood alone and had an air of starvation. There was nothing, however, to administer upon. The futility of greed is witnessed by the air of starvation that hangs about Tom and his wifes estate, as well as by how greed motivates the two to quarrel with and deceive one another.