Table of Contents
- 1 How does the phrase the earthquake shook many tall sinners down upon their knees reflect Puritan beliefs?
- 2 What message about Deacon Peabody does Irving convey symbolically by noting that the tree with his name on it was fair and flourishing without but rotten at the core?
- 3 What are the satirical messages Irving sends through his story?
- 4 What is Tom’s nickname for the devil in this story?
- 5 What does Irving allude to when he writes and everybody was dreaming of making sudden fortunes from nothing?
- 6 What does Irving symbolize in hypocrisy and hidden evil?
- 7 What does Washington Irving mean when he writes let all griping money brokers lay this story to heart?
How does the phrase the earthquake shook many tall sinners down upon their knees reflect Puritan beliefs?
When Irving, in the above sentence, wrote that the “earthquakes . . . shook many tall sinners down upon their knees,” he was satirizing such practices. The point Irving is making is that hypocrisy among the most pious is more common than one may wish to acknowledge.
What message about Deacon Peabody does Irving convey symbolically by noting that the tree with his name on it was fair and flourishing without but rotten at the core?
Symbolically, then, the trees represent men who are at grave risk of death and damnation unless they mend their ways.
What does the Devil symbolize in The Devil and Tom Walker?
The Devil and Tom Walker – Emblems / Symbols: The Devil = evil, temptation, and the road to hell. The Swamp = the shorcut full of “pits and quagmires,” in other words this is a trap. Trees=look good on the outside, but rotten at the core.
What are the satirical messages Irving sends through his story?
Irving is talking satirizing people who show insincere piety and in reality are greedy or covetous. In the story, Tom Walker makes a pact with the devil for wealth. The devil comes through on his end of the bargain by making Walker wealthy. Walker is a money lender who lends money at an extremely high rate of interest.
What is Tom’s nickname for the devil in this story?
For example, when he is introducing himself to Tom Walker, the devil refers to himself as the “Wild Huntsman,” the “Black Hunter,” and the “Black Woodsman.” He also gives himself two titles during the conversation, calling himself “the great patron and prompter of slave dealers” and “the grand master of the Salem …
What is the author’s opinion of the puritan attitude?
What is the author’s opinion of the Puritan attitude? Explain your answer. They’re hypocritical. Irony is the different between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen.
What does Irving allude to when he writes and everybody was dreaming of making sudden fortunes from nothing?
Irving uses an analogy or metaphor to describe the economic climate of Tom Walker’s town: …the great speculating fever which breaks out every now and then in the country had raged to an alarming degree, and everybody was dreaming of making sudden fortunes from nothing.
What does Irving use to symbolize hypocrisy and hidden evil? The flourshing tree that are rotten to the core.
What is Tom’s reaction when he finds his wife’s apron?
When he finds her apron, Tom is overjoyed. He believes that his personal property will be found in the apron, but all he finds is his wife’s heart and liver. We see Tom become sad, however we soon learn that the sadness is for the loss of his property and not the loss of his wife.
What does Washington Irving mean when he writes let all griping money brokers lay this story to heart?
Let all griping money brokers lay this story to heart. (Irving, “The Devil and Tom Walker,” loa.org) Here, we see that Tom Walker’s desires made no difference in the end. His money may have never been real; “chips and shavings” are as much use against death as gold and silver.