The Devil of Tom Walker and The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

A detailed Summary of The Devil of Tom Walker and The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow


Despite the evidence that Washington Irving uses to show his love for America in his stories, he portrays some characters in the Devil and Tom Walker and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as greedy. Irving shows concern for America by placing stories in uniquely American moments. In this essay I will prove through passages and quotes from Irving's stories that he shows his love for America in his stories and portrays some characters as greedy in the two stories.

The historical settings of these stories is made apparent by the use of elements common to the revolutionary era. In The Devil and Tom Walker when Irving is describing the setting he gives an impression that it took place in America. In describing the setting he says, "It had been the stronghold of the Indians during their war with the colonists." Since the war took place in America this is one evidence of his love for America. Another is when Irving is describing the devil and he makes the point that he a particularly American devil. When the devil first meets Tom and the devil is telling him about himself he says, "I amuse myself by presiding at the persecutions of Quakers and Anabaptists; I am the great pat


Another trait not necessarily flattering to American people apparent in these stories is greed. Irving makes a strong commentary about a major character flaw of the American people. The main greed of the characters in both the stories is of wealth. It is apparent in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that Ichabod Crane cares more about food than Katrina. In the long descriptive passages of Ichabod's daydreaming of the food he would get Irving writes, "In his devouring minds eye, he pictured to himself every roasting-pig running about with a pudding in his belly, and an apple in his mouth; the pigeons were snugly put to bed in a comfortable pie, and tucked in with a coverlet of crust;." And he goes on for a full paragraph daydreaming of the wonderful food he would get. Also while Ichabod is dreaming of his life if he were to marry Katrina he thought of all the wealth he could have. As the enraptured Ichabod fancied all this, and as he rolled his great green eyes over the fat meadow-lands, the rich fields of wheat, of rye, of buckwheat, and indian corn, and the orchards burthened with ruddy fruit which surrounded the warm tenement of Van Tassel, his heart yearned after the damsel

Some common words found in the essay are:
Ichabod Crane, Tom Walker, British American, Sleepy Hollow, Walker Irving, Hollow American, Van Tassel, America Irving, Quakers Anabaptists, Washington Irving, tom walker, devil tom, devil tom walker, love america, legend sleepy hollow, sleepy hollow, legend sleepy, stories portrays characters, describing setting, walker irving, irving describing, american traits, tom walker irving, irving writes, ichabod crane cares,

Approximate Word count = 798
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

join now Save Paper



Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.