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The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving: Summary | Short Story
The Devil And Tom Walker
ABOUT THE STORY
The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving
This short story "The Devil And Tom Walker" was written by Washington Irving, an American writer. This story appeared in his collection called "The Tales of a Traveller" in "The Money-Diggers" part of volume second in 1824. This story is about a man named Tom. He meets the devil and makes a deal for wealth. But later when he feels remorseful, Tom tries his best to act in a very pious way. However, he continues making his money in sinful ways and loses his soul in the end as a result. The major themes in the story are greed, corruption and the pursuit of earthly gain.
PLOT SUMMARY
The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving
The Devil's Treasure
A pirate named Kidd buried a quite valuable treasure near Boston, in the British colony of Massachusetts. His main source of getting the riches by doing pirate stuff. He hid all his treasure to keep it safe and secure. But, one day he got hanged for his task of piracy before he could enjoy his treasure. Now, the treasure belongs to the devil. It is because it was earned through doing wrong way and Kidd is also gone. Many years later, around 1727, a man lives in the same place. His name is Tom Walker. He's poor as well as greedy man. His wife is the same by her nature. They argue a lot due to their poverty. Their lives are filled with unhappy moments.
Tom Meets the Devil
One day, Tom chooses a shortcut way home through a gloomy swamp. He takes a rest near an old Native American fort that was abandoned for years since the Indian Wars. People say that the place used to have evil incantations and sacrifices, but Tom isn't scared of these stories regarding superstitions.
Suddenly, a dirty stranger appears in the place. He is wearing odd clothes as "rude, half-Indian garb." The stranger informs Tom that he owns the swamp land. But Tom knows very clearly that the land belongs to Duncan Peabody. The stranger points to a decaying tree with Mr. Peabody's name. He actually plans to chop this tree. He also shows him a recently cut tree with the name Crowninshield on it. He claims different names and deeds for himself. Tom figures out he's the devil and calls by the nickname "Old Scratch."
The Devil Offers a Deal with Tom
If Tom provides him with his soul, the devil will show him the location of treasure hidden by pirate Kidd in return. In this deal, Tom doesn't agree with him and leaves the forest. But later he finds the devil's mark burnt on his forehead. When he gets home, he finds his wife reading the news regarding Absalom Crowninshield's death in the newspaper.
Tom Plans to Agree to the Devil's Offer
Tom informs his wife about his meeting with the devil and also the deal. His wife tries to stop him from doing so, but she fails. Being desperate, Tom's wife moves to the devil herself. When she doesn't come back for some reason, Tom moves to find her in the swamp. He only finds her heart and liver in her apron. Next, he decides to move ahead with the devil's deal. When he meets the devil again, he learns about his additional conditions this time. The devil asks him to join the slave trade. He will provide him with money if the money is "employed in his service." Tom rejects the first suggestion of joining the slave trade but accepts the second, becoming a fierce moneylender or usurer.
Repercussions
Tom accumulates a lot of wealth. He constructs a large house but leaves it empty. He has a fancy carriage with fine horses but doesn't feed them well. He lends money to others with a very high interest and tough repayment conditions. This allows him control over the assets people used as collateral for the loan.
Finally, Tom starts to worry about his soul in the afterlife. He starts moving to church a lot and being the most devoted. But he doesn't stop his sinful act of lending money to others. He continues his bad act of charging high interest and taking away people's properties to accumulate wealth and make himself richer. When a client begs for mercy, Tom becomes so angry and complains, "The devil take me ... if I have made a farthing!" Even though Tom earned more than a small coin from the man through interest and taking over his property as collateral, this hasty exclamation seals Tom's fate. In the meantime, the devil appears and puts Tom on a big black horse. He takes Tom away forever, never to be seen again.
All of Tom's wealth becomes worthless. Whatever he had, turns into wood chips, dust, and ash. Even though he had a lot of money, it couldn't secure him from eternal punishment. The narrator wants all his readers to learn a lesson from a person like Tom and his story. Those who are greedy and money-brokers always get a very bad result at the end. If they keep on doing their sinful actions, they'll end up condemned like Tom Walker.
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