Question

In the story "The Devil and Tom Walker," what does Washington Irving’s humorous and ironic word choice in describing Tom’s reaction to his wife’s disappearance and possible death tell you about Tom’s relationship with her?

Answer 1

Answer:

Tom's relationship with his wife seems to be one that is based on the material gains one can get out of from the other. When he realizes that his wife had died, he didn't even mourn for her. But instead he just shrugged his shoulders and excl;aimed that the devil must have had a tough time fighting his wife.

Explanation:

The relationship of Tom and his wife is based on greed from both sides. they don't trust one another, tried to cheat each other and would do anything to gain more from the other person. She even scratches him during their fights, which sometimes is more than verbal fights. Both of them are miserly, mean spirited and absolutely doesn't seem to have a care for the other person even though they are husband and wife. When he found out that she may have died trying to make the deal with the devil herself, he doesn't seem to care much about it. Instead of mourning for her, "He shrugged  his shoulders as he looked at the signs of fierce clapper-clawing. "Egad," said he to himself, "Old Scratch must  have had a tough time of it!"  and consoled himself for the loss of his property. This shows that there is little emotional attachment between the two.