English 11 - The Devil And Tom Walker -
Overview Questions & Detailed Answers
What inspired Irving to write The Devil and Tom Walker? - ANS The Devil and Tom
Walker is a variation of the Faust legend... Faust was German scholar who
supposedly made a pact w/ the devil for knowledge and power on Earth.
Kidd the Pirate buries his treasure. Describe where he buried it and why he picked
that place. - ANS An inlet where there where a few huge oaks trees. The inlet
allowed him to bring the money in secretly at night. The elevation made it a good
lookout to be sure no one was around. Huge trees formed good landmarks so you
could easily find the place again.
What happened to Kidd? - ANS Kidd was seized in Boston and sent to England
where he was hung for being a pirate.
Tom Walker and his wife are described as miserly? What does that mean? How did
they get along? - ANS It means that were both very stingy and cheap. They were so
mislery they even tried to cheat each other. Lots of fighting...it said his face
sometimes showed signs that their conflicts were not confined to words...she hit
him too!!
How did Tom meet the devil? - ANS Tom was taking a short cut home through the
swamp and stopped to take a rest. Most people would have been scared to go
through the swamp.
, Tom stopped to rest on the shortcut home. Where did he stop to rest? - ANS It
stopped at an old Indian fort where the Indians had fought the colonists.
When Tom was resting at the fort, he uncovered something hard with his walking
stick...what was it? - ANS It was a skull with an Indian tomahawk buried in it.
What did the devil look like and what did he say to Tom? - ANS The devil said, "Let
that skull alone?" He was a black man but he was neither Negro or Indian. He was
dressed in Indian garb but his face was not black or copper colored. It was covered
with soot, had black hair sticking out, and carried an ax.
The devil asked Tom what he was doing on his land. Who did Tom say the land
belonged to? - ANS Deacon Peabody.
What did the devil say was going to be happening to Peabody? - ANS He said he
would be dead if it didn't start looking more at his own sins and less at his
neighbor's sins.
The devil pointed to a tree that had Deacon Peabody's name on it. What did the
tree look like? - ANS The tree looked good on the outside but rotten at the core. It
looked like the first high wind would blow it down. Each of the trees in the forrest
had a prominent man's name on them and all had been scored by the ax ( the
devil's ax)
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