Good question! Many readers stop paying attention to the text after they find out that the devil has carried Tom away on his black horse, into the swamp, which is struck by lightning and bursts into flames. It's such an exciting and terrifying climax that many readers don't really care much what happens after that.
But if you keep reading, it's interesting to note that all the objects representing Tom's wealth, including his money, his...
Good question! Many readers stop paying attention to the text after they find out that the devil has carried Tom away on his black horse, into the swamp, which is struck by lightning and bursts into flames. It's such an exciting and terrifying climax that many readers don't really care much what happens after that.
But if you keep reading, it's interesting to note that all the objects representing Tom's wealth, including his money, his horses, and his house, are utterly destroyed. Check out these sentences from the second-to-last paragraph of the story:
"On searching his coffers, all his bonds and mortgages were reduced to cinders. In place of gold and silver, his iron chest was filled with chips and shavings; two skeletons lay in his stable instead of his half-starved horses, and the very next day his great house took fire and was burned to the ground."
The narrator is saying that Tom's money is turned into little "chips and shavings," that his horses are turned into "skeletons," and that his house burns all the way "to the ground."
Why would this happen? Consider the devil character from the story, who loves to make grand gestures and vicious displays of his destructive power. He would definitely do this to Tom's things as a final exertion of his own power to take away what he gave. And, thematically, Tom's things have to be destroyed along with his soul: it fits with the moral that the narrator is trying to impart, which is that unlimited greed leads to total destruction.
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