Friday, November 6, 2015

How does the house Tom bought with the devil's money represent Tom's soul?

Let's start with some basics about Tom. He is introduced to readers as a "meagre, miserly fellow." He is obsessed with gaining and having money and things. He is so greedy in this regard that he actually looks for ways to cheat his wife. One of the best examples of his greed is when he actually thinks to console himself about his dead wife with the fact that he will now have her stuff:

"Let us get hold of the property," said he, consolingly, to himself, "and we will endeavor to do without the woman."

Tom's house is a reflection of his greed and hollow soul. Readers are told that the house is "vast." He built it large in order to impress everybody with his wealth, but we are also told that he left most of the house empty. He simply doesn't want to spend the money to furnish it. Nobody is ever going to see those rooms anyway; he's not likely to have anybody over and entertain them, because that would cost him money. The house and Tom both appear to be glorious and happy, yet both are just hollowed out empty shells of miserly misery.

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