Similarities Between The Devil And Tom Walker
Washington Irving and the flaws of marriage
In “ The Devil and Tom Walker”, by Washington Irving marriage is ridiculed by Irving using satire. Satire is used in the story to attempt and ridicule marriage to cause awareness or change. Irving makes fun of marriage by including statements that show how bad Tom and his wife’s arguments get, how Tom will do anything to not please his wife and how he uses the loss of his wife for comfort.
One of the first marriage flaws Irving used was that Tom showed signs of physical abuse. In the story Irving wrote “... his face sometimes showed signs that their conflicts were not confined to words”(pg.19). Irving also includes that whenever people would walk by and hear Tom and his wife’s arguments no
one would interfere. He also included that the people that heard the couples arguments were glad they weren’t married.
Later on in the story Irving demonstrates how much Tom and his wife don’t care for eachother. For example Tom’s wife wants him to sell his soul but the only reason he doesn’t want to is because it would make his wife happy. In the story “... he flatly refused, out of mere spirit of contradiction”(pg.24). Irving adds that Tom and his wife had many bitter arguments about the subject but the more they argued the more determined Tom became to not sell his soul.
One of the last marriage flaws Irving mentions in the story is how Tom did not care about his wife’s death but instead got happy about it. “Tom consoled himself for the loss of his property, with the loss of his wife, for he was a man of fortitude”(pg.25). Irving goes on to write in the story that instead of getting mad at the devil for killing his wife, he saw it as an act of kindness. Irving also added that since the devil in Tom’s eyes made him a favor he decided to acquaintance with him.
Washington Irving mocks marriage in his story and tries to express how couples can become so bitter with eachother to the point where they make eachother miserable. Irving also includes how the people around Tom and his wife feel about marriage.In Irving’s story the satires go as far as physical abuse, Tom doing whatever to contradict his wife and Tom feeling happy towards his wife’s death.
In “ The Devil and Tom Walker”, by Washington Irving marriage is ridiculed by Irving using satire. Satire is used in the story to attempt and ridicule marriage to cause awareness or change. Irving makes fun of marriage by including statements that show how bad Tom and his wife’s arguments get, how Tom will do anything to not please his wife and how he uses the loss of his wife for comfort.
One of the first marriage flaws Irving used was that Tom showed signs of physical abuse. In the story Irving wrote “... his face sometimes showed signs that their conflicts were not confined to words”(pg.19). Irving also includes that whenever people would walk by and hear Tom and his wife’s arguments no
one would interfere. He also included that the people that heard the couples arguments were glad they weren’t married.
Later on in the story Irving demonstrates how much Tom and his wife don’t care for eachother. For example Tom’s wife wants him to sell his soul but the only reason he doesn’t want to is because it would make his wife happy. In the story “... he flatly refused, out of mere spirit of contradiction”(pg.24). Irving adds that Tom and his wife had many bitter arguments about the subject but the more they argued the more determined Tom became to not sell his soul.
One of the last marriage flaws Irving mentions in the story is how Tom did not care about his wife’s death but instead got happy about it. “Tom consoled himself for the loss of his property, with the loss of his wife, for he was a man of fortitude”(pg.25). Irving goes on to write in the story that instead of getting mad at the devil for killing his wife, he saw it as an act of kindness. Irving also added that since the devil in Tom’s eyes made him a favor he decided to acquaintance with him.
Washington Irving mocks marriage in his story and tries to express how couples can become so bitter with eachother to the point where they make eachother miserable. Irving also includes how the people around Tom and his wife feel about marriage.In Irving’s story the satires go as far as physical abuse, Tom doing whatever to contradict his wife and Tom feeling happy towards his wife’s death.