What Are The Characteristics Of The Devil And Tom Walker Romanticism

The short stories Washington Irving are examples of the literary movement of Romanticism and its characteristics which are evidenced in this author’s works. These characteristics are sometimes found in abundant qualities or limited amounts in each of his short stories. However no matter what short story Washington Irving wrote, the Age of Romanticism and its defining characteristics are found in each of his selections. So, too do each of the author’s short stories present a unique study about the author’s intentions for creating his work. In Washington Irving’s selection, “The Devil and Tom Walker,” the author symbolizes through the character, Tom Walker, human nature and people's hunger for wealth. This particular character loves wealth more

The characters in the short story represent the past in him such as, Tom Walker, the leading character. The Devil and Tom Walker was written during 1824 which is during the Romantic era. As well as that it is the period which the Puritan beliefs, which are being devoted to God, had changed and the need for personal wealth became more popular (Starr, 2016). “In the story, readers see the same change happen to Tom. Tom fights change at first, but he gives in to the greed that caused his wife's death.” (Starr, 2016). The article claims how in the story Tom’s personality has changed, it changed in a way that can say he began to revolve around wealth. Irving himself has been through situations which wealth began to become more of an obligation in his life such as said in the voyages of Christopher Columbus when Irving attacked the slave trade for money after he had personal experiences with the shame of bankruptcy and debt (May, 963). Romantic authors tend to use their own past experiences with life to put into the story. Irving used Tom Walker specifically to portray himself from his own history. The past is not the only romantic characteristic, Washington Irving uses in his short

Irving noticed a huge way of people's lives before others. Tom Walker and his wife in “The Devil and Tom Walker” show and portray the change in a human’s personality for the wealth. Money are dangerous bills, it can harm and alter someone's personality in a second. “How do you feel about money? Most people would say they love money, but if they don’t have enough, they don’t feel good about it at all. If a person has all the money they need, they most certainly they feel good about money. So you can tell how you feel about money, because if you don't have all you need, then you don’t feel good about money” (Byrne, 149). The quote shows that with money or without it will affect someone and their feelings towards it. Tom Walker and his wife did not have all the money in the world, when being offered and finding wealth they even went against each other and changed who they were for the treasure. Such as Tom went against his own religion, this shows how human nature is today. People tend change how they treat others and their own selves because of wealth. “You can see the law of attraction working when people win the lottery. They spoke about when they win the litter, not if they win the lottery, and they planned and imagined what they would so when they won.