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Greed And Hypocrisy In The Devil And Tom Walker

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Greed And Hypocrisy In The Devil And Tom Walker
The Devil and Tom Walker Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker”, shows us that greed and hypocrisy will only haunt you in the end. The story takes place in New England in the late 1700’s. The narrator tells a story about a man’s encounter with the devil or “Old Scratch”. While most people don’t believe the wild story, the narrator swears that the story is indeed true. A local legend says that there is buried treasure located in a grove on the outskirts of Boston. The legend states that Kidd the Pirate left it there and that it was being guarded by the devil. Accidently Tom dug up an old skull and a voice yelled at him. The voice belongs to a man who is “blackened by soot and grime” and who introduces himself as “the Black Woodsman”. After conversing for a few minutes the devil offers to exchange the treasure for a few favors. Tom declines and returns home to his miserly wife. …show more content…
His wife then yells at him for not taking the devil up on the opportunity to sell his soul for wealth, and she storms out of the house to search for the devil to make a deal with him. She then gathers a few possessions that had monetary value and brought them to the woods in her apron. She was never seen again. Tom now wants to strike a deal with the devil. Tom declined the offer to become a slave trader so he became a usurer. He made quite a fortune by ripping people off. Tom then buys an extravagant house and a carriage but cannot maintain either of the
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