The person01–03
01·Who they are
Who is Captain Kidd?
Captain Kidd occupies one of literature's most potent offstage roles: a dead man whose shadow falls across every page of Irving's tale. The historical William Kidd—executed in London in 1701 after a career of privateering and piracy—never speaks, never acts, and never appears in the story's present tense. He exists entirely as legend and material legacy, his identity reduced to a name and a cache of buried chests hidden somewhere beneath the great, rotting trees of the swamp outside Boston. When Old Scratch gestures toward the hoard and calls it "Kidd's money," Irving transforms a figure from colonial history into a mythic archetype: the man who won everything through violence and sin and lost it all at the gallows, leaving his ill-gotten fortune to diabolical custody. Kidd serves as a cautionary ghost—the story's moral argument made flesh before the narrative even begins.
02·Arc & motivation
What is Captain Kidd's arc and motivation?
Because Kidd belongs entirely to backstory, his "arc" is reconstructed rather than dramatized. The implied trajectory is grimly simple: accumulate wealth through piracy, bury it in a swamp under circumstances that apparently involved Old Scratch, die condemned and empty-handed. Irving does not spell out the terms of whatever arrangement Kidd made with the Devil, but the very fact that the Devil now guards the treasure—and invokes Kidd's name as a selling point—strongly implies a soul-for-gold bargain that mirrors the one offered to Tom. Kidd's motivation, greed and the hunger for power that drives piracy, is thus presented as timeless and transferable. He stands not as an individual with a complex inner life but as the prototype of a recurring human failure: the willingness to court damnation for material gain.
03·Key moments
What are Captain Kidd's key moments?
Though Kidd has no scenes, his presence crystallizes at specific textual moments. The most significant is Old Scratch's revelation in the swamp, when he identifies the buried treasure as Kidd's and frames it as available—at a price. This single narrative beat retroactively gives Kidd enormous weight; everything that follows flows from this disclosure. A second key moment is the description of the decaying trees, each scored with the name of a corrupt local notable. The trees themselves mirror Kidd's fate: impressive on the outside, rotten at the core, ready to fall. Kidd is the master template for every blighted tree in that swamp. Finally, when Tom's wife enters the swamp alone, driven by appetite for the pirate's gold, and is found dead—or rather, not found at all, only her apron containing a heart and liver—Kidd's treasure claims its first direct victim in the story's present action, demonstrating that the hoard carries lethal consequences before Tom even signs any bargain.
The cast04–05
04·Relationships
What are Captain Kidd's most important relationships?
Old Scratch is Kidd's posthumous business partner and enforcer. The Devil's stewardship of the treasure implies a prior transaction: Kidd likely surrendered his soul under terms similar to those later offered to Tom. Old Scratch invokes Kidd's name deliberately, lending the bargain historical credibility and making corruption seem like an old, well-worn road rather than a singular temptation.
Tom Walker is Kidd's spiritual heir and cautionary mirror. Where Kidd amassed wealth through piracy on open water, Tom will amass it through usury in a Boston counting-house—different instruments, identical moral corruption. Tom's entire arc, from his discovery of the swamp to his fiery, horseback damnation, originates the moment Kidd's treasure enters his imagination.
Tom's wife is Kidd's most direct victim in the story's present timeline. Her fatal solo expedition into the swamp is motivated entirely by desire for the pirate's gold, making Kidd's hoard indirectly responsible for her violent, mysterious end.
Absalom Crowninshield, whose name is carved into one of the doomed trees, links Kidd to the story's wider social world. The implication is that Crowninshield, a "great land speculator," belongs to the same moral universe as a pirate—wealth built on exploitation leaving identical spiritual decay.
05·Connected characters
How is Captain Kidd connected to the other characters?
Study06–07
06·Questions
Questions readers ask about Captain Kidd
Who was Captain Kidd before the events of 'The Devil and Tom Walker'?
Captain Kidd was a historical pirate executed in London in 1701 after a career of privateering and piracy. Irving portrays him not as a living character but as a legend and backstory, with his identity diminished to a name and a cache of buried chests hidden in the swamp outside Boston. This real historical figure anchors the story's supernatural elements in a sense of grim, quasi-historical authenticity.
What is the significance of Captain Kidd's buried treasure in the story?
Kidd's buried treasure serves as the story's central symbol of tainted fortune—wealth that carries a fatal moral cost. Old Scratch identifies it as "Kidd's money" and uses it to entice Tom Walker, which initiates the entire plot. The hoard represents wealth accumulated through violence and sin, now under diabolical custody, claiming its first victim before Tom even signs any bargain.
What is Captain Kidd's relationship with Old Scratch in the story?
Old Scratch acts as Kidd's posthumous business partner and enforcer, safeguarding the buried treasure after the pirate's demise. The Devil's control over the hoard implies that Kidd surrendered his soul under terms similar to those offered to Tom Walker later. Old Scratch invokes Kidd's name, lending historical credibility to his bargain and framing corruption as an old, familiar path rather than a singular temptation.
How does Captain Kidd's treasure lead to Tom's wife's death?
Tom's wife, driven by greed for Kidd's gold, ventures alone into the swamp to negotiate with Old Scratch, leading to her violent, mysterious end—only her apron, containing a heart and liver, is discovered. This makes Kidd's hoard indirectly responsible for her fate, representing the treasure's first victim in the story's present action and demonstrating its lethal consequences before Tom finalizes his own deal.
How does Captain Kidd's fate mirror Tom Walker's fate?
Both men seek wealth through corrupt, sinful means and ultimately end up losing everything. Kidd amassed riches through piracy and was condemned to death, surrendering his fortune to the Devil. Tom gains wealth through predatory usury and is taken by Old Scratch in a fiery damnation. Irving structures the story so that every greedy individual follows a similar downward trajectory, making Kidd the prototype and Tom his cautionary reflection.
What do the decaying trees in the swamp have to do with Captain Kidd?
The blighted trees, each marked with the name of a corrupt local notable, reflect Kidd's own fate: impressive on the surface, rotten at the core, and poised to fall. Kidd serves as the master template for every ruined tree in that swamp, embodying outward prosperity while concealing inner decay. The name of Absalom Crowninshield, a "great land speculator," carved into one tree connects Kidd to the story's broader social context, suggesting that piracy and predatory commerce result in identical spiritual rot.
Does Captain Kidd have any famous quoted lines in 'The Devil and Tom Walker'?
Captain Kidd does not have any attributed lines in the story. He never appears in the narrative's present tense, speaks no dialogue, and takes no direct action—his entire presence is offstage. Irving creates Kidd's symbolic power through this absence and silence, making him a more potent moral archetype than any speaking character could be.
Why does Irving include Captain Kidd in a story about Tom Walker's deal with the Devil?
Irving includes Kidd to present greed as a transhistorical sin, equally damning in the context of eighteenth-century piracy or nineteenth-century predatory lending. By grounding the Devil's bargain in a documented historical figure, he lends the supernatural tale an air of grim inevitability, blurring the distinction between legend and moral allegory. Kidd acts as a cautionary archetype whose tainted legacy illustrates that wealth built on wickedness always leads to damnation.
07·Essay angles
Use this in your essay
Tool · Essay angles