satare in Romantacism Litrature
Often in Romanticism literature, authors use satire to help the readers grasp the reality of society in a comical way. Washington Irving’s, “The Devil and Tom Walker” is an excellent example of how satire is used to illustrate the flaws in human nature. In the story, a poor and greedy Tom Walker makes a pact with the devil to rise from rags to riches by lending loans, charging high interests, and forcing his clients into bankruptcy. Irving uses various forms of satire to emphasize the problems in society through humor and to inspire the audience to be more aware of the corruption in the aspects of everyday life as illustrated by satire against religious hypocrisy, satire against marriage, and most significantly satire against greed. Washington Irving’s use of satire illustrates the diverse forms of religious hypocrisy that take place in a community, an example of which can be seen by the sudden interest in church by Tom Walker. “He became, therefore, all of a sudden a violent churchgoer. He prayed loudly and strenuously, as if heaven were to be taken by force of lungs” (Page 13). Tom Walker starts to realize the price he must pay to keep his end of the bargain with the devil, as a result he starts to regularly attend church in an attempt to purify his soul.