The Devil and Tom Walker Flashcards
by Washington Irving — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: The Devil and Tom Walker
Where does Tom Walker first encounter the Devil?
At an old Indian fort deep in a thickly wooded swamp near Charles Bay, a few miles from Boston.
What does Tom kick up from the ground just before the Devil appears?
A cloven skull with an Indian tomahawk buried deep in it.
What treasure does the Devil offer Tom Walker?
The gold buried by Captain Kidd the pirate under the oak trees on the high ridge near the swamp.
Why does Tom initially refuse the Devil's bargain?
Not out of moral scruple, but out of sheer spite -- his wife urged him to accept, and he refused simply to contradict her.
What does Tom find in the checked apron hanging in the cypress tree?
Only a heart and liver -- the remains of his wife, who apparently fought the Devil and lost.
What profession does Tom take up after striking his bargain with the Devil?
He becomes a usurer (moneylender), opening a broker's shop in Boston where he charges exorbitant interest rates.
What rash statement triggers Tom's doom?
While foreclosing a mortgage, Tom says 'The devil take me if I have made a farthing!' -- and the Devil immediately appears at his door.
What happens to Tom's wealth after the Devil takes him?
His bonds and mortgages turn to cinders, his iron chest fills with chips and shavings, his horses become skeletons, and his house burns down.
How is Tom Walker characterized at the start of the story?
As a meagre, miserly fellow who conspires with his equally miserly wife to cheat each other, living in a forlorn house that has 'an air of starvation.'
What kind of woman is Tom Walker's wife?
A tall termagant -- fierce of temper, loud of tongue, and strong of arm -- who constantly quarrels with Tom and hoards valuables.
How does Tom react to his wife's death?
He consoles himself for the loss of his property with the loss of his wife, even feeling gratitude toward the Devil for doing him 'a kindness.'
What names does the Devil use to describe himself?
The wild huntsman, the black miner, the black woodsman -- and he claims to be the patron of slave-dealers and grand-master of the Salem witches.
Why is Tom Walker unafraid when he meets the Devil?
He is described as a hard-minded fellow not easily daunted, and having lived so long with a termagant wife, he did not even fear the devil.
What does Deacon Peabody's marked tree symbolize?
That his soul belongs to the Devil -- the tree is fair outside but rotten at the core, representing his hidden moral corruption despite his outward respectability.
How does Tom's late-life religious conversion illustrate hypocrisy?
He prays loudly to cheat the Devil out of their bargain, censures his neighbors' sins to credit his own account, and keeps Bibles nearby while continuing his usury.
What does the story suggest about the relationship between greed and self-destruction?
Every character driven by avarice is destroyed -- Tom, his wife, Crowninshield, and the debtors -- showing that greed leads inevitably to ruin.
Why does Tom refuse to become a slave trader but readily agree to become a usurer?
Irving uses this ironic distinction to show Tom draws arbitrary moral lines -- he rejects one form of exploitation while enthusiastically embracing another equally harmful one.
What do the scored and rotting trees in the swamp symbolize?
The souls of wealthy, outwardly respectable colonists who are morally rotten within. Each tree bears a rich man's name and is ready to be felled by the Devil.
What is ironic about Tom's attempts to protect himself from the Devil in old age?
He carries Bibles and attends church zealously, but his piety is entirely self-serving -- and he is caught without his Bible the one moment it matters.
How does the swamp function as a literary device in the story?
It serves as a symbolic landscape -- dark, treacherous, and morally ambiguous -- representing the moral dangers of greed and the hidden corruption beneath respectable society.
What narrative technique does Irving use to frame the story?
He uses a folklore frame, presenting events as an 'authentic old story' passed through multiple historians, giving it a legendary, parable-like quality.
What does 'termagant' mean as used to describe Tom's wife?
A harsh-tempered, overbearing, quarrelsome woman. Irving uses it to emphasize her fierce, combative nature.
What does 'usurer' mean in the context of Tom's profession?
A moneylender who charges excessively high interest rates, exploiting borrowers in financial distress.
What does 'propitiate' mean when Tom must propitiate the Devil's favor?
To win or regain the favor of someone, especially through offerings or concessions -- here, meeting the Devil's conditions to access the treasure.
What is the significance of Tom saying 'Let the freebooter roast' about Crowninshield?
It reveals Tom's callous indifference to others' fates and foreshadows his own damnation -- he shows no sympathy even when confronted with proof the Devil's power is real.
What does the black man mean when he says 'He's just ready for burning!' about Crowninshield's tree?
That Crowninshield's soul is claimed and he is about to die -- the Devil collects sinners like firewood. Crowninshield dies the same day.
What is Tom's reaction when he finds only a heart and liver in his wife's apron?
He shrugs and says 'Old Scratch must have had a tough time of it!' -- more impressed by her fighting spirit than grieved by her death.