The Devil and Tom Walker By Washington Irving

Quick Check Reading Quiz – 15 points 1.) What does Tom accidentally dig up with his walking staff while resting at the old Indian fort? 2.) What name does Tom call the devil, and what is the devil’s signature? 3.) What did Tom find (be VERY SPECIFIC! Not just one thing) when he went to look for his wife? 4.) What was the one term/thing that Tom would not agree to (when making his deal with the devil) because it went against his conscience? 5.) Name two things that Tom did in his old age to alleviate the anxiety that he had about the deal he made with the devil.

Setting of the Story A few miles from Boston, Massachusetts – inlet that ends in a thickly wooded swamp Legend has it that “Kidd the Pirate” buried a large amount of treasure in this area, and that the devil presided at the hiding of the money. Unfortunately, Kidd never came back to get his treasure because he was captured, sent back to England, and hung.

Tom Walker, his wife, his house, and his horse Tom and his wife were an extremely stingy (“miserly”) couple – so stingy that they often tried to cheat each other. His wife was “termagant”, temperamental, loud, and strong – she did not just argue with her husband verbally; they often got into physically fights. They had a sad “forlorn” looking house that almost seemed as though it were starving – no one ever came to visit. Their miserable horse was so skinny one could see its ribs; it was not fed properly, and it was pitiful to look at.

Meeting up with the Devil Tom decides to rest at an Old Indian fort late in the evening – a place where savages once held incantations and made sacrifices to evil spirits. Tom meets the Devil – whom Tom knows as “Old Scratch”. Not quite black, nor Indian, Old Scratch’s face is covered in dirt and soot as though he has been working among fires (hell). He has a pair of great red eyes. Old Scratch’s most noticeable feature is his shock of coarse black hair – stands out from his head in all directions.

Tom’s short cut through the woods Was not a good choice – it became an ill chosen route Swamp was thickly grown, lots of trees, very dark, full of pits and quagmires (land that sinks under foot), smothering mud, dark and “stagnant” pools. There was no really solid footing for Tom, and his short cut ended up being quite “precarious”

Talking with Old Scratch Tom noticed that many of the trees had the name of some great man from the colony on it – most of them had been chopped down. (people who presumably had made a deal with the Devil) Tom was not afraid of the Devil because he was no scarier than living with his wife, and so the Devil told Tom that he had control over Kidd the Pirate’s treasure. The Devil offered to make a deal with Tom – with certain conditions, but Tom said he had to think about it. The Devil’s Signature – black finger print burned onto Tom’s forehead

Tom’s “termagant” wife Tom discussed the potential deal with his wife, but he ultimately decided not to take it just because she wanted him to. He chose not to make the deal to spite her. She tried to make her own deal with Old Scratch but was not successful: first time he said no and for her to come back with something to offer him, and the second time she went, she never came back. No one knows for sure what happened to her – perhaps she got lost in the swamp or that she left Tom…. But, when Tom went looking for her, he found her apron hanging in the branches of a tree with a heart and liver in it. Tom’s wife tried to deal with the Devil – ended in a massive fight – Tom believes that his wife put up a very good fight as indicated by the chunks of Old Scratch’s hair that were on the ground.

Tom’s deal with the Devil Tom was not very upset about losing his wife; in fact, he was grateful to Old Scratch for taking care of her. As a result, he wanted to discuss making a deal. “One condition that need not be mentioned…” Tom had to sell his soul in order to get what he wants. Tom absolutely refused to become a slave trader because it went against his conscience. Instead, with the money and help of the Devil, Tom became a very successful “usurer” – counting house, money lender, dealt with mortgages.

As Tom Walker got older Tom became very successful, but as he grew older, he became more anxious about the deal he made with the Devil. He became a violent church goer, prayed loudly, carried a small bible in his coat pocket, and had a larger bible on his desk at work. He even had his horse saddled and buried feet up – because Tom believed that on the last day of the world, the world would be turned upside down, and this way his horse would be ready for a quick getaway.

The Demise of Tom Walker Tom was dealing with a poor land owner who was asking for more time to pay on his bill. The man begged for more time saying that his family would be ruined and that Tom had already made so much money off of him. Tom said that the Devil could take him (Tom) if that statement was true - that Tom had made money off of this poor man. And, so the Devil came to take him. All of Tom’s assets were reduced to nothing – money/coins became chips and shavings, mortgages were nothing but ashes, only found the skeletons of his horses, and his house burned to the ground.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Film Summary)

Ichabod Crane (Depp) is a 24-year-old New York City police officer in Facing imprisonment for going against traditional methods and favoring forensic investigation techniques such as finger-printing and autopsies not considered to be orthodox at that time and considered unimportant, Ichabod submits to deployment with his bag of tools to the Westchester County hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, New York, which has been plagued by a series of brutal slayings in which the victims have been found decapitated:New York City autopsies Sleepy Hollow, New Yorkdecapitated

Peter Van Garrett (Martin Landau), wealthy farmer and landowner; his son Dirk; and the widow were the first victums Emily Winship. Arriving in Sleepy Hollow, Crane is informed by the town's elders that the killer is not of flesh and blood, but rather an undead headless Hessian mercenary from the American Revolutionary War who rides at night on a massive black steed in search of his missing head.Martin LandauHessian mercenaryAmerican Revolutionary War

Crane begins his investigation, remaining highly skeptical about the supernatural elements in the case until he actually encounters the Headless Horseman himself, who kills the Magistrate Samuel Phillipse (Richard Griffiths) on sight. Boarding in a room at the home of the town's richest family and the Van Garretts' next of kin, the Van Tassels, Crane develops an attraction to their daughter Katrina (Christina Ricci), while he is plagued by nightmares of his mother's horrific torture when he was a child.Headless HorsemanRichard GriffithsChristina Ricci

This attraction deeply is resented by Brom van Brunt (Casper Van Dien), a suitor to Katrina, who attempts to frighten Crane away by posing as the Headless Horseman. Riding into the Western Woods with the orphaned Young Masbath, son of the Horseman's fifth victim, Crane and Katrina come across the cave dwelling of a reclusive sorceress. She reveals the location of the gnarled Tree of the Dead, which marks the Horseman's grave, as well as his portal into the natural world from the supernatural.Casper Van Dien

Crane discovers that the ground is freshly disturbed and, digging through, discovers the Horseman's skeleton and that the skull is missing. He realizes that whomever dug up and stole the skull is the person controlling the Horseman. Just then, the Horseman's ghost bursts out of the tree and gallops towards Sleepy Hollow. Crane attempts to follow but winds up lost.

The Killian family are taken by the Horseman and Brom is killed when trying to stop the Horsemen. Crane starts to believe that a conspiracy links all the deaths together, so he goes to the town Notary Hardenbrook to look into Van Garrett's Last Will. Hardenbrook confesses Van Garrett had made a new will just before he died, leaving all his possessions to his new bride, Emily Winship, who Crane had found was pregnant at the time of her death. Crane deduces that all who knew about the new will were the victims of Horseman and that Baltus Van Tassel (Michael Gambon), who would have inherited the fortune, is the person holding the skull.Michael Gambon

Katrina, finding out that Crane suspects her father, burns the evidence that Crane has accumulated tells him that she doesn't love him anymore. In fear of the Horseman, Hardenbrook hangs himself and a town council is held in the town church. The Horseman seemingly kills Lady Van Tassel and heads off to the church to get Katrina's father Baltus (Michael Gambon), with the townspeople filing in just as the Horseman arrives. With the men firing muskets at the Horseman as he circles the church, Crane realizes the Horseman can't enter the church grounds due to some protective supernatural forceMichael Gambon

A massive fight breaks out in the church when Dr. Thomas Lancaster (Ian McDiarmid) suggests confessing for forgiveness, and then Lancaster is killed by Reverend Steenwyck, who is in turn shot by a frightened Baltus. The chaos ends only when the Horseman harpoons Baltus through a church window using a pointed church fence post attached to a rope, dragging him out and acquiring his head.Ian McDiarmid

As Crane is leaving Sleepy Hollow, he becomes suspicious when the hand of the corpse of Lady Van Tassel has a wound which shows signs of having been caused post-mortem. His suspicions are confirmed to be right when the Lady Van Tassel (Miranda Richardson) emerges, alive, from the dark and shocks her step- daughter Katrina into a faint. Katrina awakens and eventually uncovers a plot revolving around revenge on the Van Garretts and land rights with the Horseman controlled by Katrina's stepmother Lady Van Tassel, who sends the supernatural killer after Katrina now to solidify her hold on what she considers her property, a piece of land unjustly claimed by Baltus.Miranda Richardson

Following a fight in the local windmill and a stagecoach chase through the woods, Crane eventually thwarts Lady Van Tassel by throwing the skull to the Horseman, breaking the curse. The Horseman, no longer under Lady Van Tassel's control, hoists her up on his horse, then rides to Hell taking her with him, fulfilling her end of the deal with the Devil. With the Headless Horseman menace eradicated, Crane returns home to New York with Katrina and young Masbath, just in time for Christmas and the new century.deal with the DevilChristmas

Elements of Romanticism/Themes of the Story Romantic tale of the common man – strong emphasis on strong morals (good vs. evil) Legend/Folklore/Supernatural elements – use of imagination Making a deal with the Devil – the nature of greed is a major theme – what is your price? (Greed) Hypocrisy - is the act of preaching a certain belief, religion or way of life, but not, in fact, holding these same virtues oneself. Swamp/Wooded area of nature – the place where Tom and his wife must confront the nature of their own beings and moral make-up