The Devil And Tom Walker And Transcendentalism

1220 Words3 Pages

A transcendentalist values the natural world compared to the obsession of the synthetic values of those before them. Among the well respected Transcendentalists are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Washington Irving, and Henry David Thoreau. A common dream world consists of simplicity, admiration, and individualism, and there hasn’t been a clear line drawn regarding the connection between transcendentalism and utopian thinking. A future ‘utopia’ should be founded on transcendentalist philosophies in order to restore the value of nature and one's own individual spirit, due to the qualities shared by a 21st century ‘utopia’ and transcendental ideas.
The transcendentalist literary movement was a reaction to the strict doctrines …show more content…

Many times weather conditions symbolize the unstable life that this worldliness thinking will bring upon us, for example the earthquake in the beginning of the passage is used to suggest the shaky life that people have been living in. Later in the passage Tom Walker is walking through his neighborhood and decides to take a shortcut, “like most shortcuts, it was and ill-chosen route” (Irving). Showing how people at the time were constantly taking short cuts to prosper, such as when Irving introduces the investors later on he notes how these people become successful yet by taking shortcuts they faced pitfalls and failures which often put you right back where you started. People today are taking shortcuts in many aspects of life, whether it be in the workplace or in relationships people are losing sight of true compassion. Technology is taking away the meaning behind many so called “romantic” gestures, for example a text saying “I love you” should not have the same meaning as someone saying “I love you” in person. Humans should restore the value of relationships to what they once …show more content…

For instance, in William Faulkner’s, A Rose For Emily, Emily would not go out to pay her taxes because she did not want to interact with society. When describing Emily’s house “decorated with cupolas” and a replica of the “style of the seventies”, Faulkner uses and extended metaphor to go in depth to show how deeply rooted Emily was in transcendentalist thinking (Faulkner). A future ‘utopia’ is not typically thought of as being stuck in the past, a ‘utopia’ is often a place to look forward to, this being said one could argue that transcendental thoughts are not ones in which we should aim to create a society

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Romanticism In The Devil And Tom Walker

    578 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romanticism is an essential part of the early forms of American literature. Romantic’s, who value feelings and intuition as opposed to reason, seek to reveal higher truths through their writings. One way to reveal these truths is by the use imagination, as Washington Irving and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow do. Through the utilization of imagination, Washington Irving and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow reveal distinct truths about life.

    Read More

  • Henry David Thoreau's Influences In The Antebellum Period

    989 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thoreau wrote, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” The words transformed people’s lives to think more of the why in life and live with a purpose not just do what they are told, which was a driving idea within the Transcendentalist movements. Transcendentalist were hard to define, but perhaps one of the fathers of transcendentalism Ralph Waldo Emerson defines it most gracefully in a speech he gave, “The Transcendentalist adopts the whole connection of spiritual doctrine, He believes in miracle, in the perpetual openness of the human mind to new influx of light and power: he believes in inspiration, and in ecstasy”. As Emerson’s key student and self-proclaimed Transcendentalist Thoreau fulfilled these requirements to help further this movement of higher

    Read More

  • Essay On The Devil And Tom Walker Romanticism

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    "About the year 1727, just at the time when earthquakes were prevalent in New England, and shook many tall sinners down upon their knees, there lived near this place a meager miserly fellow of the name of Tom Walker." (Irving) “The Devil and Tom Walker” is a short story written by Washington Irving in about 1824. The story is about a man who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for Pirate Kidd’s hidden treasure. The man, named Tom Walker, is a greedy, selfish man who thinks money is more important than his wife. “The Devil and Tom Walker” is the best short story example of Romanticism. The story uses escapism, nature as a form of spirituality, and imagination, which are all tenets of Romanticism.

    Read More

  • Chris McCandless: A True Transcendentalist

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered the Father of Transcendentalism because he first introduced the idea of a simplistic and intuitive way of life. He claims, “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist . . . Nothing is at least sacred but the integrity of your own mind” (“Self-Reliance” 392). Nonconformity is an essential part of Emerson’s definition of a transcendentalist. To be able to live a truly boundless and accomplished life, one must not fall into the daily, busy life of society. He or she must stand out and follow their intuition, even it is not considered the norm. The only way to be content is to trust one’s instinct, not be jaded by the pressures society.

    Read More

  • Good and Evil in The Devil and Tom Walker

    366 Words  | 1 Pages

    Good and Evil in The Devil and Tom Walker The concept of evil in the short story "The Devil and Tom Walker" can be shown in many ways, by Irvings' symbolism. In the short story, Tom Walker symbolizes all of mankind by portraying him as being "sinful" and evil. When there is an intent to destroy, then we get a different level of hatred.

    Read More

  • The Devil and Tom Walker and Romanticism

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker” includes great examples of Romanticism, such as symbols in nature having links to the supernatural, the importance of the inner nature, and the emphasis of the individual. In the story, Tom Walker is a selfish man who cares more about money than he does about anyone else, including his wife. One day, while he is walking through the woods, Tom Walker comes across the Devil, who makes a deal with him to exchange his soul for the treasure that is buried in those woods. Tom declines and returns back to his wife and tells her that he has passed on an opportunity that could bring them lots of money. Tom’s wife, outraged by his actions, decides to strike a deal of her own with the Devil and after several attempts, she never returns from the woods. The next time Tom goes to the woods he finds that his wife had been killed by the Devil. He finally agrees to make the deal with him, now that Tom doesn’t have to share anything with his wife. Tom ignores the Devil’s suggestion of becoming a slave-trader and becomes a moneylender instead. He gets wea...

    Read More

  • The Influence Of American Identity In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of these thinkers was Henry David Thoreau, a transcendentalist. This movement reflected a deeper thought process moving through the country where longstanding ideas were questioned and the role of nature was put into more prominence. Thoreau says, “I thus dispose of the superfluous and see things as they are, grand and beautiful” (Thoreau 34). This speaks to the overall thought process of the budding country and the people who make it up. Seeing things as they are and doing away with excess is a cornerstone of the transcendentalist movement, which took hold of the dominant thinkers of the

    Read More

  • The Devil And Tom Walker And Transcendentalism Essay

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    Transcendentalism was a religious movement that started in the late 1820s and 1830s. The main focus of transcendentalism was the perfection and goodness of a human being, nature, and the universe; it was also thought independence brought about the best in people. It was presumed that society was the cause of the corruption of purity in a person. Anti- Transcendentalism was a more realistic view of the world. They thought man was capable of evil as well as easily being deceived and their proneness to sin and self-destruction. Anti- Transcendentalists believed that making decisions solely on logic will create a negative effect in actions and thoughts.

    Read More

  • Emerson And Transcendentalism Comparison

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    Transcendentalists Thoreau and Emerson conveyed strong, specific viewpoints on the world through their writing. The transcendentalist ideals differ vastly with the lives lived by most of the modern world today. Firstly, the two differ on views of self-reliance. Secondly, they have different outlooks on the government and organized groups. Lastly, transcendentalist and modern American views vary by the way they view nature. These differences between transcendentalism and life today are essential in understanding life then, as well as life now.

    Read More

  • The Devil And Tom Walker Satire Essay

    581 Words  | 2 Pages

    Writers have a way to make society take a double look at themselves and what is going on in life or even in nature is compared. It’s actually called satire it’s the use of humor, irony, it criticizes people’s stupidity or vices. “The Devil and Tom Walker” is written by Washington Irving. In his story, he uses satire to criticize the people and the actions they have taken among themselves in the 1720’s that lived in Boston.

    Read More

  • Comparing the American Dream of the Transcendentalists with that of The Great Gatsby

    731 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Dream of the Transcendentalists centers on being all that one is meant to be. First of all, the ideas of the Transcendentalists did not revolve around society and materialistic possessions. Transcendentalists felt that “society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of everyone of its members”(from Self-Reliance 194). Also, Transcendentalists believed that “The nation itself, with all its so-called internal improvements, which, by the way, are all external and superficial, is just such an unwieldy and overgrown establishment, cluttered with furniture and tripped up by its own traps, ruined by luxury and heedless expense” (from Where I Lived and What I Lived For 212) and for which the only cure is simplicity. In addition, Transcendentalists believed that man should live life to the fullest by seeking to reach their potential. Thoreau “did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I [Thoreau] could best see the moonlight amid the mountains” (from Conclusion 217). Seeking to reach one’s potential means that one must “Absolve you to yourself, and you should have the suffrage of the world” (from Self-Reliance 194). Furthermore, the Transcendentalists sought self-knowledge through the study of nature. “Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood” (from Nature 191). “The life in us is like the water in the river” (from Conclusion 217) because some days one rises like the river and drowns out all of ones problems. Most importantly, the ideas of nonconformity and individualism illustrate the Transcendentalist beliefs. “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist” (from Self-Reliance 194) shows that every man should have a unique quality that separates him from other men.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis: The Devil & Tom Walker

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...was the hardness of his terms. He accumulated bonds and mortgages; gradually squeezed his customers closer and closer; and sent them at length, dry as a sponge from his door"( ).The local problem is a stepping stone to present the universal; one, which is the subject of greed, science everyone is tempted by greed. Moreover, the narrator remains in omniscient point of view to make readers know what others think about Tom: "Her voice was often heard in wordy warfare with her husband; and his face sometimes showed signs that their conflicts were not confined to words. No one ventured, however, to interfere between them; the lonely wayfarer shrunk within himself at the horrid clamor and clapper clawing; eyed the den of discord askance, and hurried on his way, rejoicing, if a bachelor, in his celibacy. After reading this passage, readers gain a bad impression of Tom.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Transcendentalism

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    Transcendentalism is a social, religious, and literary movement: a philosophy. Combining elements from the romantic period with eastern philosophical beliefs, it sought to fight against rationalism and conformism by inspiring individuals to look into their inner selves and embrace their own beliefs. One of the spearheads leading this movement was Ralph Waldo Emerson: an American writer and philosopher who sought to teach others what he himself had found. Transcendalists, such as Emerson, viewed society as a catalyst for downfall and instead believed that humans were inherently good and pure; embracing our inner feelings and emotions and ignoring expectations and conformity are essential to achieve happiness and fulfillment. Such ideas can

    Read More

  • Transcendentalism and Transcendental Meditation

    1417 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Transcendentalist adopts the whole connection of spiritual doctrine. He believes in miracle, in the perpetual openness of the human mind to new influx of light and power; he believes in inspiration, and in ecstasy.”(Emerson 196). These two lines written by Ralph Waldo Emerson exemplify the whole movement of transcendentalist writers and what they believed in. Though to the writers, transcendentalism was a fight for a belief, unknown to them they could have been fighting for the betterment of human health. The transcendentalist writings of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson have directly affected the health of modern society through the idea of transcendental meditation. Through modern science, scientists have linked increases in health among individuals through the use of transcendental meditation.

    Read More

  • Transcendentalism

    1611 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ed to an optimistic emphasis on individualism, self-reliance, and rejection of traditional authority” (American 1). The major players in the transcendentalist movement are Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. They shared ideas such as self-reliance, and ideas about how there is a divine being that controls every person. They influenced many other writers and they even had an effect on the American society, then and now. Transcendentalism was a philosophy and a way of life. It will continue to be this as long as we have access to the great minds of the transcendental movement.

    Read More

More about The Devil And Tom Walker And Transcendentalism

Open Document