The Devil and Tom Walker & Snowbound

The Devil and Tom Walker & Snowbound

While reading The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving, I noticed some irony and symbolism. Snowbound by John Greenleaf Whittier displayed a lot of color imagery. These are two very different kinds of readings.
Tom Walker meets “Old Scratch” in the forest where he was taking a shortcut to get home. He thought about the preposition he was made and, “he might have felt disposed to sell himself to the Devil…” (Irving 240). Old Scratch is a symbol of the Devil. Once the black man intrigued him and encouraged him to sell his soul, Tom became his usurers. Now, Tom is forever in the Devils hands. The two men only talk secretly about their wrong doings and schemes in the forest. The Black Man helped Tom Walker gain the earthly benefits that he sought for in return for his loyalty.
There was also some irony within the story. You would not expect that Tom Walker suddenly, “became a violent churchgoer” (Irving 243). Tom would attend the Sunday devotions and pray very loudly. He began to feel anxious about the day that the Devil would come and have his due. For this reason, Tom would also carry a small Bible in his coat pocket and often read his folio Bible. Now that he secured his riches of this world, he wanted to make sure what was going to happen in the next.
In Snowbound, there are a lot of signs of imagery. For example, in the beginning of the story the day is being described as, “unwarmed by any sunset light the grey day darkened into night” (Whittier 268). This shows how the day turned into night unnoticed. There are many other examples of imagery throughout the poem that describe the snowstorm. It also describes the disappearance and reappearance of many important buildings and landmarks. This is a very important literary device used in this poem.