The Devil And Tom Walker

Irving frequently wrote under pseudonyms for a playful or humorous effect. Tales of a Traveler is written under the pseudonym of Geoffrey Crayon (which Irving had used before in his writings), but the “Money Diggers” group of stories which includes “The Devil and Tom Walker” is the exception to this: It is described as “found among the papers of the late Diedrich Knickerbocker.” This character, a Dutch New York historian and expert in local lore, is also the supposed author of Irving’s tales “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

The use of a fictional narrator for “The Devil and Tom Walker” serves as a distancing device, making the story seem more remote in time and place and adding another layer to the telling of the story; Irving seems to be out of the picture, thus absolving himself of responsibility for the tale. The device also creates an illusion of historical truth: We are made to believe that we are reading a true account that has been handed down for generations. Several times during the tale, the narrator (Knickerbocker) refers to the “authentic” nature of the story he is relating and expresses doubt about the veracity of this or that point.