The Devil See Old Scratch Old Scratch Old Scratch is the guise for the Devil, who appears in “The Devil and Tom Walker” as a dark-skinned man. Readers are told, however, that he is neither Indian (Native American) nor white. He has deep red eyes, wears a red sash, and carries his axe on his…
Tag: Washington Irving
The Devil and Tom Walker: Summary
In Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker,” set in New England in the early 1700s, a narrator relates a story he has heard about a local man’s dealings with the devil. The narrator never claims that the stories are true, only that they are widely believed. According to local legend, a treasure is buried…