“The Devil and Tom Walker” : Themes
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Greed
Tom is offered
wealth beyond
his wildest
dreams.
At first, Tom
doesn’t want to
take the deal
because he would
have to share his
fortune with his
wife.
Tom “was not a
man to stick at
trifles when
money was in
view”.
As a money
lender: “In
proportion to the
distress of the
applicant was the
hardness of his
terms”.
When he
becomes wealthy,
he refuses to
furnish his house
and properly feed
his horses.
He denies his
greed: “The devil
take me if I have
made a farthing”.
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Hypocrisy
Tom refuses to
become a slave
trader on moral
grounds, but has
no problem
making a profit
by impoverishing
others.
Tom is insists
that people keep
to their end of the
bargain with him,
yet he tries to get
out of his with
the devil.
Tom displays
religious
hypocrisy,
because his heart
is not into his
new belief in
God.
Tom denies that
he has made a
penny from an
“unlucky landspeculator for
whom he had
professed the
greatest
friendship”.
Moral Corruption
 Tom is presented
as an individual
who has always
been morally
corrupt. He is
described as a
“meager, miserly
fellow” and his
“house and
inmates had
altogether a bad
name”.
 Tom engages in a
pact with the
devil.
 In acquiring great
wealth, Tom feels
that the end
justifies the
means.
 His conversion to
religion is made
for the sake of his
own personal
interest rather
than his faith in
God.