The Devil And Tom Walker

Washington Irving was born and raised in New York City in the years following the American Revolution. With his writing, Irving bridged influences from the Old and New Worlds, as well as those of the Enlightenment and Romanticism. Irving lived in Europe (mostly England) from 1815 to 1832, and both Europeans and Americans welcomed him as America’s first professional man of letters. Many of his stories blend European and American influences in plot, setting, or characters. “Rip Van Winkle,” for instance, dramatizes the enormous social shift that took place as the American colonies, previously part of Great Britain, gained independence. Through this and other stories Irving tried to show Americans that, although a young nation, they already had a history and a distinctive folklore. In turn, European readers were impressed by Irving’s command of language and intrigued by the American scenes and characters he portrayed.

Before writing “The Devil and Tom Walker,” Irving had visited Germany for over a year and immersed himself in German folktales. It is possible that he drew directly from the legend of Faust, a man who makes a pact with the devil and exchanges his soul for limitless worldly pleasures.