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Definition of Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations intended to emphasize a point... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements... read full definition
Key Examples in A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings
Hyperbole
Explanation and Analysis—Omnipresent Angel:
Near the end of the story, after Pelayo and Elisenda have built a large house for themselves with the money they earned from charging visitors to see the angel, they allow the angel to come indoors. When describing the angel’s presence in the house, the narrator uses a series of hyperboles, as seen in the following passage:
They would drive him out of the bedroom with a broom and a moment later find him in the kitchen. He seemed to be in so many places at the same time that they grew to think that he’d been duplicated, that he was reproducing himself all through the house, and the exasperated and unhinged Elisenda shouted that it was awful living in that hell full of angels.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The Angel’s Visitors:
When describing Pelayo and Elisenda’s successful (and exploitative) venture of charging visitors to see the angel they are holding captive in their chicken coop, the narrator uses a metaphor and several hyperboles, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+In the midst of that shipwreck disorder that made the earth tremble, Pelayo and Elisenda were happy with fatigue, for in less than a week they had crammed their rooms with money and the line of pilgrims waiting their turn to enter still reached beyond the horizon.
Related Themes:
