“The Devil and Tom Walker” - Mrs. Sullivan
“The Devil and Tom Walker”
Close Reading Questions
Name _______________________________________________ Date ______________
1. What is the setting for this story? What is supposed to be hidden under one of the big trees beside the inlet? What happened to the person who hid it there? Who supposedly “presided?”
2. Describe the marriage of Tom Walker and his wife. What bad traits do they have?
3. Describe the Walkers’ house.
4. Explain what “their conflicts were not confined to words” means.
5. Why does Tom walk through the swamp on the way home one day? Where does Tom pause to rest? Why would most people not have stopped there?
6. What does Tom discover in the ground at his feet? What happens when he kicks it?
7. Why does the devil say that Deacon Peabody will be damned? What else do we learn Deacon Peabody has done which might be seen as a sin?
8. What does the tree with Deacon Peabody’s name on it show about him? (How is it used as a symbol of his character?
9. After the devil cuts down a tree, what does he do with it? What is that a symbol of?
10. What does the devil (Old Scratch) offer Tom?
11. What proof does the devil give Tom that what he has said is true? What does his wife tell him that convinces Tome that “all he had heard and seen was no illusion?
12. What surprising news does Tom receive from his wife when he returns?
13. When his wife hears Tom’s story, what is her reaction? How does this change Tom’s attitude? Why does he decide NOT to bargain with Old Scratch? What does Tom’s wife decide to do on her own?
14. What does Tom see up in a tree when he is looking for his wife? What is his reaction? Why?
15. Explain the irony of “He leaped for joy; for he recognized his wife’s apron, and supposed it to contain the household valuables.” How does Tom feel about the devil after this incident?
16. What is the “one condition which need not be mentioned?”
17. Explain “In proportion to the distress of the applicant was the hardness of his terms.” How does Tom become rich? How does he spend his money? What shows he is still a miser?
18. When he gets old, what different things does Tom do to avoid keeping his end of the bargain he had made with the devil?
19. What favor does a customer ask on Tom’s last day of life? Why does he think Tom might grant it?
20. What is Tom’s response to this customer’s request? What happens immediately after? Why? What has happened to Tom’s wealth by the end of the story?
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