Assignment 2 Tuesday/Wednesday Mrs. Talbott

The Devil and Tom Walker

Instructions: A. Read “The Devil and Tom Walker” on pp. 226-239 or follow the YouTube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbJrmi6CZlY to an audio/text version. B. Answer questions 1-5 on p. 240 about direct and indirect characterization. C. Answer the Quiz questions on Microsoft Teams about the story. (These questions are also posted below.)

What to Look For: This story was written in 1824 by Washington Irving, better known for “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Have you heard of the New York Knicks basketball team? That name comes from Diedrich Knickerbocker, a character in one of Irving’s stories. The term “knickerbocker” has come to mean someone who is a native New Yorker.

“The Devil and Tom Walker” is a variation of a common tale in folklore – that of someone selling his soul to the devil for money and power on while on earth (see “The Faust Legend” on p. 235). This story is a dark comedy, the characters are portrayed as unlikeable with few redeeming qualities, so much so that we can laugh at how ridiculous these people are.

People in the New England region of the United States, unlike earlier times, are now staunchly opposed to slavery. Note that Tom refuses to take his riches from the devil in the form of becoming a slave trader (p. 235). Tom is hardly a moral man, but even he won’t stoop that low! Also, the author lets the devil be the character who speaks derogatorily of African Americans and Native Americans, thus expressing his disapproval.

Note the difference between direct and indirect characterization in this story. Direct characterization is when the author clearly states what a character is like. For example: “Tom’s wife was a tall termagant, fierce of temper, loud of tongue, and strong of arm” (p. 230). This is direct characterization; the author tells us she is angry, loud, and violent. Indirect characterization, however, uses characters’ speech, thoughts, actions, or appearance to show the reader what they are like. For example: if someone were to pass by the Walker house and heard them fighting he would “hurry on his way, rejoicing, if a bachelor, in his celibacy.” Here, other people’s reaction to the Walkers – hurrying away and being grateful they aren’t married – shows us how terrible they are.

Quiz Questions:

1. What is buried under one of the gigantic trees? Who put it there?

2. What do we learn from Old Scratch about Deacon Peabody (p. 231)? How does the author show Deacon Peabody’s fate through the symbolism of the tree?

3. List three ways the reader is shown that Tom and his wife are less than a loving couple.

4. What does Tom’s wife determine to do after he tells her about his meeting with Old Scratch?

5. When Tom’s wife goes into the swamp to meet the devil and doesn’t return, what is it that he is really concerned about?

6. When Tom comes upon the site of a battle between his wife and the devil (pp. 234-235), he exclaims “Egad! Old Scratch must have had a tough time of it!” What does this tell us about Tom?

7. What service does Tom refuse to provide to the devil?

8. How does Tom instead make his money and become rich?

9. As he gets older, what does Tom always carry in his pocket? Why?

10. On p. 237, we are told: “He built himself, as usual, a vast house, out of ostentation; but left the greatest part of it unfurnished, out of parsimony.” Through defining the words ostentation and parsimony, describe what this sentence means.