The Devil and Tom Walker and Snowbound
While reading The Devil and Tom Walker, I found that the conflict and the theme helped the story progress. While reading Snowbound, I found that the symbolism and metaphors helped the story.
In The Devil and Tom Walker, there are two conflicts, Tom Walker vs. Himself, and Tom Walker vs. the Devil. At the beginning of the story, the conflict is between Tom Walker and his greed, because he wants to become rich. He became so greedy that he sold his soul to the devil to get Captain Kidd’s treasure. Later, he realized that when he was to die, he would have to go to hell, because of the deal with the devil. So he started to go to church to try and get out of his deal. The theme, greed can lead to a man’s downfall, really helps the story progress, because it really sums up Tom Walker’s life. The theme also teaches a good lesson because it shows what can happen to people who get wrapped up in getting money.
In Snowbound, the author really uses symbolism to great affect. He says that there is a storm that is angry, which can symbolize how nature is angry that man is changing from its original pure state. The cave made of snow in the story can symbolize the place of refuge from the wrath of the storm. He also uses a lot of metaphors, such as the snow as “Nature’s geometric signs” (Whittier 268) or as the cave as “Aladdin’s wondrous cave” (Whittier 269). The author also likes to make allusions to other stories.