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The value of narrative essay
The value of narrative essay
The devil and tom walker and the devil and daniel webster compare and contrast essay
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Things Aren’t Always What They Seem “The Devil and Daniel Webster” was a historical based narrative written in 1937 by Stephen Benet. This strong belief based story is about a young man who simply “runs” into some good luck. After angrily shouting a phrase “I vow it’s enough to make a man want to sell his soul to the devil! And I would too for two cents!”(Benet 2), a man appears, a sinister man who offers good old Jabez Stone a deal. Though the main character, Jabez Stone, tried to embrace his contract he can’t help but feel uneasy. Jabez’s uneasy feeling becomes more intense as his contract’s end date comes closer; finally Jabez decided to go to his last resort. An old fashioned New Hampshire man named Daniel Webster takes his case. Jabez Stone truly finds meanings in things aren’t what they seem. This story depicts that of a questionably mythical creature directly referred to as the Devil. Although it is not at first known the devil character, also known as Scratch, appears as a “soft spoken, well-dressed stranger” who “drove up in a handsome buggy”(Benet 2). Staying true to the theme, this mere peasant looking man is definitely not what he seems to be. Although it might seem odd for a well-dressed man to be …show more content…
It is told that any man who can beat satin in a fair fight’s power is stronger than that of Scratch. After Daniel Webster ensures the slumbering Jabez’s freedom, he knows that this adversary has been beaten. For the greater good Daniel Webster reasons his greater power over the stranger. Daniel demands that Scratch never again returns to the region to claim more hopeless souls. “Ouch! Well, they never did run very big to the barrel, but –ouch! – I agree” (Benet 12). It seems that the being of this evil creature is not just a man who claims souls but also just a man. Without his power Scratch is somebody who cannot use evil to win over an opponent. Scratch was really just a
Tom Walker’s devil is a dark-skinned man with red eyes, red sash, and an axe. Tom was a malicious, greedy person who dealt with the devil in order to gain some wealth. He and his wife would fight constantly day after day. Tom was not a wealthy person
Chicago, one of the most popular cities in America. Visits from families all around the country, what makes this place so great? Is it the skyscrapers that protrude the sky? Or is it the weather people loved? Does Chicago being the second most favored city in America show that this town has some greatness? In the nonfiction novel The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson uses imagery, tone, and figurative language to portray the dreamlike qualities of Chicago and the beauty that lies within this city.
The Devil is explaining to Tom who he is and he also describes himself. The Devil is often described as a man is disguises and here it is the same way. He describes himself as a woodsman, a black miner and a huntsman and all of these disguises can be related to dark and scary people, which is exactly what the devil is. “The devil” said he guards, Captain Kidd’s treasure, he said he guards all treasure. “The devil presided at the hiding of Captain Kidd’s money, and took it under his guardianship; but this, it is well known, he always does with buried treasure, particularly when it has been ill-gotten”. (Irving). He claims to own the swamp near Tom Walker and his wife’s home, where Tom met him during his first encounter where they were surrounded by trees with carved names of the living but soon to die and be fuel for hell’s fire. Old Scratch is the devil who knows when he’s got people right where he wants them, and tries to offer the deal of a lifetime. After Toms encounter with the devil he went to tell his wife about the
A Faustian legend is a story in which a character trades something of great personal value to the devil in order to receive personal gain. Since this type of literature originated in the Fourth Century it has spread throughout the world. Two relatively recent versions of this legend are “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Vincent Benét. These stories show many similarities as well as a few differences. While both Benét and Irving present similar themes in setting of the tales and motivation in the Faustian character, they do differ in the nature of that character and their visual presentation of the Devil.
In this short story, imagination is used in different ways. The act of speaking to the devil himself is highly unlikely. This is one of the imagination aspects of romanticism. Another example of imagination is at the end of the story when Tom was old and nearing the end of his life, he was working when a black man holding a black horse approached the doors and told Tom “You’re come for!” (Irving) Tom was taken away with the man down the streets. Tom’s wealth was gone after that. This event is as well, highly unlikely to happen in reality. Imagination is significant to Romantics because they believed that their imaginations, dreams and thoughts of what might be were the causes of life experiences. Imagination lets people see past reality into the world of what might
Can you imagine yourself locked up in a room with no doors? Similar to a room with no doors, there is no way out of hell if it was one's destiny. In the short story "The Devil & Tom Walker" by Washington Irving, the main character's fate is hell because of his wrong decisions in life, accepting a deal with the devil for earthly benefits. Irving reinforces his message about not making decisions that may damn your soul with the use of literary elements and figurative language. Wisely, Irving combines characterization, mood and point of view to perpetuate the theme of the story in the reader's mind.
The next character is the man who Brown meets up with in the woods. This man is described as, "one who knew the world, and who would not have felt abashed at the governor's dinner table or in King William's court" (Kelly, 191). This man can be seen as the devil. He possesses features that illustrate him as the devil. For example his walking staff is described as having "the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent" (Kelly, 191-192).
Irving, Washington. “The Devil and Tom Walker”. Elements of Literature: Fifth Course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2008. 175-185. Print.
The book, The Devil in the White City, takes place during the late nineteenth century. During that time, the total picture of the late nineteenth - century America that emerges from The Devil in the White City is very different than now.
We see that good vs. evil has been a theme that is ubiquitous in many writings. The story "The Devil and Tom Walker" is a story about a man who lives an immoral life of greed. Walker lives in a wooded area, where it is solemn, and quiet area of New England. Walker runs into the devil and sees that the devil is cutting down someone else's timber.
As humans, we go through life’s obstacles and find ourselves lost in these obstacles. Many times one is approached by friends, family and sometimes strangers. As they become aware of your circumstances and obstacles they attempt to give you advice by sharing their beliefs. Similarly, in literature, a devil character appears during a crisis or weak moment's in the protagonist's life to challenge, guide, bring out qualities and thoughts that already live within the protagonist. Although the devil character can be perceived as evil and devious, the devil character has the ability to test the protagonist in order to put the character in contact with something already existent within them.
Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker” includes great examples of Romanticism, such as symbols in nature having links to the supernatural, the importance of the inner nature, and the emphasis of the individual. In the story, Tom Walker is a selfish man who cares more about money than he does about anyone else, including his wife. One day, while he is walking through the woods, Tom Walker comes across the Devil, who makes a deal with him to exchange his soul for the treasure that is buried in those woods. Tom declines and returns back to his wife and tells her that he has passed on an opportunity that could bring them lots of money. Tom’s wife, outraged by his actions, decides to strike a deal of her own with the Devil and after several attempts, she never returns from the woods. The next time Tom goes to the woods he finds that his wife had been killed by the Devil. He finally agrees to make the deal with him, now that Tom doesn’t have to share anything with his wife. Tom ignores the Devil’s suggestion of becoming a slave-trader and becomes a moneylender instead. He gets wea...
The early seventeenth century audience did not need a description of the devil like the twentieth century audience does. The Middle Ages had accustomed people to viewing the devil as a hideous, disgustingly ugly and frightening creature. The renaissance was a revolution in terms of imagery. The devil became more hu...
The battle between what is right and wrong is a classic struggle that has existed from the beginning of time. The most honorable people face the crossroad of choosing either the angel’s path or the devil’s; one path leads to an honest yet difficult life while the other is an easy and selfish one. Throughout history, women have been portrayed as the reason of Man’s downfall. The male dominated world has created stereotypes to blame females for their defeats due to ignorance. Leo Tolstoy’s “The Devil” explores the dichotomy of the objectification of women as the angel and the devil.
The Devil and Miss Prym is a novel of temptation and personal growth. A man known as the Devil approaches the small village of Viscos and exposes them to a horrible idea of evil versus good. The Devil states he is on a quest to discover if there is mostly good or evil in the world and he needs the villagers to help him complete his experiment. Miss Prym, or Chantal, is the main victim of the Devil’s plan and must make several difficult decisions to rectify the situation. After much struggle, the