And Contrast The Devil And Tom Walker And The Fall Of The House Of Usher

The Nationalistic Period occurred between 1825 and 1840, which also includes the Jacksonian Era and Westward Expansion (Mintz). During the Nationalistic Period, “The Living Temple” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving, and The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe depicted the change of the American government. They reflected a period of time where the American people had uncertain views that led to a downfall in how the government operated due to new policies and expansion.
The legend of Kidd the pirate is a metaphor for how the United States government views money and incorporating it into national spending. Kidd hid money at the “foot of the hill” because it was a good hiding place where he could

easily find his treasure again (Irving). The hiding of the treasure directly criticized how the government hides secrets and buried them deep within the walls of the White House where it wouldn’t get revealed to the public. The “foot of the hill” refers to the Capital where everything is getting developed and can easily get discovered like the treasure. This treasure is buried temporarily in hopes to reclaim it at an important time, just like the new policies that Andrew Jackson’s administration tried to pass in order benefit and corrupt the American people. The “devil presided” over the hidden money and guards it especially from “buried treasure” that was “ill gotten” (Irving). While Kidd’s actions resemble the government's actions, the devil itself represents Andrew Jackson and his administrators because they corruptly terminate certain bills and amendments that benefited the American people (Piedmont-Marton).
Tom represent hope in the governemnt while the black man and creepy forest represent the daunting measures and how manipulating the government can be in order to push forth new change. The short cut that lead to his home was filled with “gloomy pines and hemlocks” and camoflouged with weeds and mosses in which “the green surface” faded into “a gulf of black” making it omnious and treacherous to walk through (Irving). The short cut that Tom takes proves Americas habiti of “quick fixes and quick profits” (Piedmont-Marton). It doesn’t mention whether Tom takes this short cut all the time or if it was the for the first time, but there is a similarity in how the government wants everything to be disposable at their hands instead of going the long route where work needs to be done. The forrest sets the scene up for the eccentric encountor of the devil and Tom, which is the “satircal prupose” that deems the importance of it as “real or illisuion” (Piedmont-Marton). A black man dressed in “ rude Indian garb” and “axe on his shoulders” are paired with red eyes that could stare directly into Tom’s soul (Irving). This man is a litteral representation of the governemnt with Indian descent that has slowly faded into modern culture, and the revenge on Britain for having so much control over the nation when it wanted independence. Tom wasn’t convinced that the black man was reall, so as proof the man pressed “his fingers on Tom’s forehead” and slittered “down, down down, into the earth” where he potrolled the treasure (Irving). This mark was still present when he got him and convinced him that this was no illusion, but instead an oppertunity to develope new relationships. Tom’s search for his wife, Dame Walker, and property came to an end when he found “nothing but a heart and liver” tied to a tree that was in dark, haunted forrest (Irving). Dame Walker had hope of receiving the treasure that the black man had, which represents all the hopeful Americans who thought Jackson would make problems disapear but instead their hopes are shot down and forgoten.
The fantasy that Tom lived in was later coruppted by the broken agreement, which proves how the government doesn’t always stay true to their weirds.

The devil tempted Tom to become a “slave trader,” but he would not accepted this offer so his other option was “open a broker’s shop” where he would “drive merchants to bankruptcy” (Irving). Tom fell into a trap, and from that moment hope was vanished and he was drawing close to his desire that would never come true. The ingenious blend of “seriocomic pathos” helps highlight the increase corruption of money distribution and reitterates the importance of Tom’s new life that was graciously given to him (Mintz). Tom “starved the horses” and the “ungreased wheels” squealed and growned it is as if you could hear “the souls of the poor debtors he was squeezing” (Irving). This is parallel to the first depression where people were in chaos and felt disconnected to the government and world. Through Irving’s simile, he comapres the “ungreased wheels” to “the souls of the poor he was squeezing” (Irving) which helps create a “vein of humor” (Mintz). Tom alwasy carried a Bible in his coat picket and desk, but one day he frogot his Bibles which were under his pocket and buried “under the mortage” he was soon to close. Th black man “whicked him like a child into the saddle” and they gaolloped away in the midst of a thunder storm (Irving). His minor sin of not carrying his Bible lead to his death where his hope for Kidd’s treasure was lost. It also shows how minor government spending could lead to a great amount of trouble like an economic depression. Irving’s ideal readers should make fun “at the fictional audience” who think that Tom was carried away to his “fate” in a “carriage driven by a black horse” (Piedmont-Marton). His “seriocomic pathos” makes this incident ironic because he sets it up in a serious tone, but has a dark sensor of humar that the reader should pick

on.
Tom, the deceased, and his wealth goes away with him and there is debate whether this was just another illusion or reality. The poeple of Boston “shook their heads” since they were “accustomed to witches, goblins, and tricks of the devil” which was just an ordinary part of their lives (Irving). Americans can’t tell the difference between real or a fantasy because the governemtn hides behind a mask that can’t be forshadowed. “The truth of it is not to be doubted” and it was the origin of the saying “The devil and Tom Walker” (Irving). Since this noval is an allegory, the elements of fantasy are “real” in the sense of dfepicting something else ((Piedmont-Marton). “The devil and Tom Walker” represent the coruption of goverment and their prevelent views on how society should run deu to the downfall.