Jose D.

Soto
English 10-1/2
Mrs. Quintana
Nov. 19,2013
Devil and Tom Walker Symbolism Within the Swamp
As he turned up the soil unconsciously, his staff struck something hard. He raked it out
of the vegetable mold and lo! A cloven skull, with an Indian tomahawk buried deep in it, lay
before him.( Irving, n.d.)Washington Irving, like all gothic authors, seeked to expose the evil
that lies in the deep dark recesses, of every persons mind. Human beings have had a long and
traumatizing history of bloodshed. Transcendentalists blamed this tendency of violence on
societys restrictions upon the individual. However, the Dark Romantics believed that every
person holds the capacity and the likelihood of executing evil and sin. The Devil and Tom
Walker, written by Washington Irving, displays the avarice that is present in the human heart. The
swamp in The Devil and Tom Walker is a symbol that displays the dark inner workings that is the
human soul, because it displays the corruption and moral decadence in society by the use of the
decaying environment, by being the dwelling place of the devil and by the use of the tall trees,
found near the Native American camp, where the devil dwells, with names etched onto them.
By the 1800s the quality of life in the cities was difficult. Due to the sudden increase in
population, cities were overflowing. There was not enough space to house every person; some
had to live on the streets. Also, the hoards of people facilitated the spread of disease. Famine was
also a common sight. Romantics, even Dark Romantics, believed that the urban cities were
polluted and rotten; they believed that the cities were symbols of corruption and death.
Washington Irving relayed his view of urban cities through the swamp setting in The Devil and

Tom Walker. It was full of pits and quagmires, partly covered with weeds and mosses, where the
green surface often betrayed the traveler into a gulf of black, smothering mud: There were also
dark and stagnant pools, the abode of the tadpole, the bullfrog and the water-snake, where the
trunks of pines and hemlocks lay half drowned, half rotting, looking like alligators sleeping in
the mire. (Irving, n.d.)The aforementioned environment is pertaining to the eerie setting that is
commonplace for gothic stories. The swamp is dark, putrid and dangerous. The gloomy and
creepy appearance of the swamp symbolizes the dangers and dark influences that are present in
urban cities.
When the Puritans came and settled in the Americas, they regarded the forests as the
devils playground. The forests were dark, foreboding and intimidating to the colonists. This was
due to the fact that they did not know what lay inside the forest and their beliefs led to
prejudices, which were, whatever is unknown is of the devil. The Puritans also believed that the
Native Americans were spawns of the devil since they appeared, apparently magically, from
within the forest to steal from them. This prejudice is present in the swamp; when the devil
reveals himself to Tom Walker in the Native American camp, in which he resided. the
stranger was neither Negro nor Indian.(Emerson, n.d.) The significance that the devil resides
within the swamp is that, the devil is a known symbol of temptation to the human; he also
contributes to the corruption that is present within the swamp.
People are greedy beings. Never conformed to what they have, always wanting a bit
more, and desiring what others possess. Even Ralph Waldo Emerson admitted to this fact. We
are a puny and fickle folk. Avarice, hesitation and following are our diseases. The first time Tom
Walker encountered the devil in the swamp, he came across tress that had names etched upon
them. He now looked around, and found most of the tall trees marked with the name if some

great man in the colony, and all more or less scored by the ax. (Irving, n.d.)The people with the
names on the trees were people who had sought out and consorted with the devil in order to
attain fame and fortune. The length of the trees signifies the pride, standing, social standing and
outer demeanor of the people whose name is etched upon it. However, the inside of the trees
represent the greed, pride and sins that the host is guilty of. The devil states that once their sins
reach a certain level he will topple the trees. The toppling of the tree symbolizes that however
much one may try to hide or escape from their sins, they will always catch up to one and lead to
ones own ruin.
The Dark Romantics believed in the cruelty and grotesque nature that humans all carry
within them. Indeed, the greatest obstacle man has ever encountered and is yet to overcome is
man itself. Humans will bring upon their own destruction. It has been humans which have
plagued the world with war. It has been humans who have subjugated other humans to do their
bidding (slavery). It has been humans who have wrought suffering upon themselves. Humans
brought sin into the world. The Gothics are right to say that the human mind is prone to sin. I
feel that sin and evil are the negative part of you, and I think its like a battery: Youve got to
have the negative and the positive in order to be a complete person.(Dolly Parton, n.d). The
Devil and Tom Walker symbolism effectively exposes some of the sins and evil present in a
humans mind.

References

Emerson, Ralph W. "Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes." BrainyQuote. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/ralphwaldo396695.html>.
Irving, Washington. "The Devil and Tom Walker." Page by Page Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Washington_Irving/The_Devil_And_Tom_Walker/>.
Parton, Dolly. "Dolly Parton Quotes." BrainyQuote. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/d/dollyparto446802.html>.