Corruption In The Devil And Tom Walker Greed

History has shown that the quest for success and wealth tends to take prominence over morality. Seeking prosperity, however, does not guarantee a happy or fulfilling life. Oftentimes, the search for profit leads to corruption and eventual failure. When Irving wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker,” the United States was going through a period of rapid expansion. Washington Irving saw how competition for power and wealth was causing widespread corruption. Irving supported Romanticism, which instead promoted hard work and honesty to achieve success. Irving wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker” based in Romantic ideals as a cautionary tale of corruption in early 19th century society. Irving effectively demonstrates the consequences of corruption by utilizing Romantic values to demonstrate how Tom Walker and his wife’s hypocrisy, greed, and moral ambiguity lead to their downfall.
Tom Walker and his wife’s greed lead them down a path of corruption that results in their demise. Even before the events of the story take place, Walker and his wife were already selfish people. The narrator states, “that they even conspired to cheat each other,” which often leads to many conflicts between the husband and wife (Irving 229). Their greed is not brought on by the temptation of wealth, but is already an ingrained aspect of their personality. Instead of working
Although his immorality is clear, Walker himself cannot see the error in his ways. Irving means this as a warning to the audience, to look carefully at their choices in life. Once again, Irving’s Romantic and humanitarian inspiration is evident, as Romantics believed success came from strong moral and ethical values (“Historical”). Obviously, Walker, does not hold these same values, and he ultimately meets his demise. Immoral decisions may not be extremely obvious, but over time the escalation of corruption may result in