The Devil And Tom Walker

“About the year 1727, just at the time that earthquakes were prevalent in New England, and shook many tall sinners down upon their knees, there lived near this place a meagre, miserly fellow, of the name of Tom Walker.”

This passage near the beginning of the tale transitions from the backstory of Kidd’s treasure to the main action of the plot. By evoking the destruction of the earthquake, it symbolically foreshadows Tom’s moral downfall as well as alluding to the moral corruption and hypocrisy of some Puritans.

“Let that skull alone!”

Old Scratch’s first words to Tom, telling him to put down the skull of a white settler killed with an Indian hatchet. The line establishes Old Scratch’s strident personality and foreshadows Tom’s demise, as his fate will be like that of the settler.

“This woodland belonged to me long before one of your white-faced race put foot upon the soil.” 

An example of irony in the tale, as the devil accuses the White settlers of corruption in seizing the land from the Indians as well as from him. Irving here follows folklore that claimed that some Indians worshipped the devil and killed White settlers in the devil’s name.