Tone+in+Devil+and+Tom+Walker

Irving creates humor in "The Devil and Tom Walker" through ** irony and sarcasm **. One example is in the beginning of the story, Irivng says that the couple is miserly. " **__His__** face sometimes showed signs that their conflicts were not confined to words". Irving basically suggests that __** Tom **__ was actually beaten by his own wife during their physical altercations. Another example is the reaction of the passerbys. "The lonely wayfarer shrunk within himself at the horrid clamor and clapper-clawing; eyed the den of discord askance; and hurried on his way, rejoicing, if a bachelor, in his celibacy". This also represents humor because Irving infers that the passerby hears the verbal altercation and hurries off happy and rejoiced that they are single and not married. Likewise, when Tom returns home and tells his wife about the talk with the devil and that he is thinking of signing for treasure she is so greedy and self-centered that she hurries off to the woods to make a pact with the devil before Tom is able to. The humor is that Tom only regrets his decision of telling his wife because she has fleed with valuable household items. An example of irony is at the end of the story. Tom yells, "the devil take me, if I have made a farthing"! Sure enough there were three loud knocks at the street door, the devil was there to take Tom. These are examples of how Irving displays humor in "The Devil and Tom Walker".