the devil and tom walker

Chelsey Wilkins

The Devil and Tom Walker

Washington Irving wrote a short story that revolved around the darkness and evilness of the devil. Unlike other suspense stories, the story was written in a pure Gothic style. New England, known for its history of tales of witches and evil spirits, was an excellent choice of setting for this so called mythical story.


To begin with, diction was set in a gothic like tone. Mostly all of the descriptive words were negative. For example, the words dark, horrid, treacherous, and evil were used throughout the story. The use of such negative words kind of hinted to me that maybe the area they were in was not, good or even foreshadowed an unfortunate event. “Cautiously through this treacherous forest,” is another example of the diction used to appeal to the gothic tone?

Figurative language was used throughout the story to help further the extent of certain actions. “As articulate as the bars of a gridiron,” used the comparison to give a further explanation of how the miserable horse’s ribs were. The similes used by Irving in this piece helped me get a more detailed aspect about the point he was trying to get across rather than just thinking it’s articulate, he compares it with the bars of the gridiron which allows so many more possible definitions of the intended subject.

Lastly, while trying to analyze the story rhetorically, I really didn’t think it appealed to pathos nor ethos on account of he never stated he was there, Irving just told a story that could have been made up or simply a folktale. However, I did notice the constant reference to the devil. I actually believed that the devil had taken over Tom’s spirit when he found out his wife had been killed. I mea n who could say something insulting about a dead spouse, I don’t think it’s possible which left the influence of the devil to control him.

To conclude, by analyzing the story rhetorically I came to the conclusion it was consumed around the devil. I felt the story was fictional, and maybe was used to like scare younger children out of stealing and things of that sort. “The Devil and Tom Walker” was written by Washington Irving and fell into the direct category of a gothic toned story.