Needless precautions
John laughs at the situation, when his wife, having a strong desire to kill all the fleas on their dog and in their house, buys so many different sprayers for fleas. When John sees the check for all of it, he says that they “…could have rented an own crop duster for this much.” Thus, he shows that, even when his wife wasted too much money for the stuff and while they would easily do without it, but he isn’t angry at Jenny for it.
Downplaying important events
The author uses this literary device when telling about how he and his wife were waiting for the result of pregnancy test, which was very important for them. This waiting was so stressful and “sulfurous” for them that they pretended they “…were waiting for something of no more significance than the teakettle to boil.” This helped them to be little more patient then.
An unintended meal
John, being happy with the fact that he’ll be a father, isn’t angry at Marley, who has eaten the pregnancy test. He simply laughs at the dog, saying to him: “Sorry to disappoint you, pal, but this is going in the scrapbook.”
