The Devil and Tom Walker

Antonia Sanders
October 19, 2009
AP English III
The Devil and Tom Walker
By Washington Irving

In the story The Devil and Tom Walker it portrays a man name Tome Walker involves with two people who are characterized as the “devil”. Washington gives descriptions of these people by using imagery and gothic.
While describing how the swamp looked in this story Irving uses a lot of gothic. “The swamp was thickly grown with great gloomy pines and hemlocks, some of them ninety feet high; which made it dark at noonday, a retreat for all the owls of the neighborhood”. These lines give readers a description and imagery on how this swamp looks. Its creepy because its dark at noonday and is the hangout spot for the owls. “In this lonely melancholy place… to the evil spirit… listening to the bonding cry of the tree toad”. When Washington states this in his story I kind of get a sense that it’s lonely because no one would dare walk into that scary swamp by themselves or with anyone else, but one person. Also he says that the tree toads get together and form a group and cry which is probably because they are living in this swamp which has many evil spirits. “This wild lonely place, would have shaken any man’s nerves: but Tom was a hard-minded fellow, not easily daunted, and he had lived so long with a termagant wife, that he did not even fear the devil”. This quote once again gives gothic details about this place but gives you Tom’s character also. I know for a fact that I can say this man was brave for even going into that swamp, but also the writer says that he was hard-minded and not easily daunted.
Washington Irving describes the man in the woods as “a great black man” who went by various names such as Wild Huntsman, Black Miner, and Black Woodsman. These names are very dark and fearful. “The stranger was neither negro nor Indian… but his face was neither black nor copper colour, but swarthy and dingy and begrimed with soot… he had a shock of coarse black hair… a pair of great red eyes”. This person is being described as a monster because he’s so dark with bad hair any red eyes. In the story he is even called the “devil”.
There is another person in story who had a dark, wicked, and mischievous description. “Tom’s wife was a tall termagant, fierce of temper, loud of tongue, and strong of arm. Her voice was often heard in wordy warfare with her husband; and his face sometimes showed signs that their conflicts were not confined to words”. Not only does this quote show that this lady (not given a real name) was not taking no stuff from her husband, but she actually abused him as far as what the text says. We readers know that she’s a loud woman who has a short temper, and she’s very strong. Washington also gives Tom’s wife the name devil probably because of her character and how she acts. With him giving her this name it shows that she probably is an evil woman who is cruel.