Your question points towards the fact that this story can be
read satirically. It is important to realise that Washington Irving is updating an archetypal
story concerning men trying to deal with the Devil but always losing in the end. One of the
earliest examples is the legend of Faust, a sixteenth century philosopher who sells his soul to
the devil for knowledge and power but eventually is claimed by the devil for his own and taken
down to hell to suffer for eternity.
If we think of this story as a
satire, then, it is clear that Irving is mocking greed, stinginess, religious intolerance,
spiritual hypocrisy and the inhumane treatment of others. He criticises the Puritans for their
persecution of Quakers and Anabaptists, the Salem witch trials, and their practice of usury -
lending money at exorbitant interest. Irving is therefore providing us with an updated version of
this classic archetype to show how the Devil may not be too far from America and the exploits of
its population. Note what the Devil says to Tom:
"Since the red men have been exterminated by you white
savages, I amuse myself by presiding at the persecutions of Quakers and Anabaptists; I am the
great patron and prompter of slave dealers, and the grand master of the Salem
witches."
Therefore, through this
tale Irving is satirically providing a comment on Puritans and their exploits in the new land,
which ironically they thought would allow them to get closer to God.
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