“The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving and “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne are two short stories that illustrate Puritan ideas about the place of evil in human nature. Both short stories revolve around a central character and his personal struggle with the "Devil". Tom Walker conspires with the Devil for monetary gain, while Goodman Brown's interaction with the Devil causes him to question his faith. The authors use the literary device of allegory to depict Puritan ideas of good and evil, as exemplified by Tom Walker and Goodman Brown, as well as the complementary characters of Faith and Tom Walker's wife. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “Young Goodman Brown” both use a central character to illustrate a secondary meaning. Tom Walker is used to illustrate the Puritan ideal of human evil and greed. He is described to us as a miserly, neglected and impetuous old man, traits which give him a specific and realistic personality. However, as the story develops, we come to understand the abstract meaning that Tom Walker's character represents. In the story, Tom Walker sells himself to the Devil in order to obtain monetary wealth: “You are the usurer of my money! » » said the black legs with delight. “When do you want the rhino?” This very night. "Do!" said the devil. "Do!" said Tom Walker. “So they shook hands and made a deal” (Irving, 10). Tom Walker's pact with the Devil represents humanity's natural greed: the desire for more. Similarly to Tom Walker, Goodman Brown is used as an allegory to illustrate a secondary meaning. Goodman Brown embodies a Puritan ideal of evil by representing the man himself; Hawthorne's protagonist is presented as a religious young man, but this image quickly fades once Goodman Brown is revealed to be meeting with the Devil. Goodman Brown tries to keep his faith as he ventures deeper and deeper into the forest with the Devil at his side, "Having fulfilled my covenant by meeting you here, my goal now is to return to where I came from." come. I have some scruples concerning the matter of which you know” (Hawthorne, 2). Eventually, he succumbs to the evil he has witnessed among his own acquaintances: “There is no good on earth; and sin is only a name. Come on devil! for this world is given to you” (Hawthorne, p. 5). Goodman Brown represents the man himself: he tries to follow his own path in life, but cannot avoid the evils that the world has to offer. Tom Walker and Goodman Brown exemplify human greed and humanity respectively. However, faith is used to illustrate a Puritan ideal of goodness: faith in humanity. Although Faith is a fairly flat character, she plays an instrumental role in the development of the story and its themes. When Goodman Brown ventures into the woods to meet the Devil, he is hesitant to follow the Devil further because of his love for faith: “I will not move another step in this race. What if a miserable old woman chose to go to the devil, when I thought she was going to Heaven! Is this any reason why I should leave my dear Faith and pursue her? (Hawthorne, 4). Faith represents Goodman Brown's faith in humanity and is all that stops him from going further with the Devil. Likewise, "Faith" is what causes Goodman Brown to later follow the Devil to the ceremony. After hearing his Faith "utter lamentations," Goodman Brown not only loses the Faith, but.