The Devil And Tom Walker And Transcendentalism Essay

Transcendentalism was a religious movement that started in the late 1820s and 1830s. The main focus of transcendentalism was the perfection and goodness of a human being, nature, and the universe; it was also thought independence brought about the best in people. It was presumed that society was the cause of the corruption of purity in a person. Anti- Transcendentalism was a more realistic view of the world. They thought man was capable of evil as well as easily being deceived and their proneness to sin and self-destruction. Anti- Transcendentalists believed that making decisions solely on logic will create a negative effect in actions and thoughts.
In Washington Irving’s short story, “The Devil and Tom Walker,” Tom revolves his life around his own selfish wants. Tom and his wife were not a right match for each other. The trouble in their relationship is they would seek out the others stash of treasures to take as their own. In their mind they cannot be happy with what they already have, but imbedded in each other is the need for more. Greed overshadows Tom’s inner conscience, and he goes to great lengths to satisfy his wants. On one ordinary day Tom decides to take a shortcut home, “Like most shortcuts, it was an ill chosen route. The swamp was thickly grown with great gloomy pines and hemlocks, some of them ninety feet high, which made it dark at noonday… (Irving 4).” Any typical human being would have enough common sense not to take a route through a dark, frightening swap. While resting in the swap, Tom met a strange “black man.” Tom’s wife fell into the trap many do, the idea of wealth caused her to fall into the hands of the devil. With his wife gone, he made a deal with the devil to open up a broker’s shop in order to ob...

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...ferred the condition of a weak woman, exposed to all evil, and capable of none? (Hawthorne 91-92).” The antidote acts as a reverse effect on Beatrice and kills her; because she was corrupted with poison her whole life. Giovanni was doomed from the start when he continued to converse with Beatrice with knowledge of the threatening poison.
According to anti-transcendentalists, using only self-reliance over an inner conscience will result in consequences from obstructive sin. Anti-transcendentalism was based off the existence of heaven and hell, and the actions carried out that got to either destination. Dark Romanticism was prevalent and exposed human frailty to sin and destruction. Several works were written revealing the truth of the flaws and unethical ways of society. Anti-transcendentalism gave a realistic view to everyone of the world and all of its undoing’s.