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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
Part I
Explanation and Analysis—Never Been Hungrier:
After Nick sets up camp in the woods, he crawls into his tent and takes stock of his needs. At this point, the narrator uses a hyperbole to capture Nick’s hunger level:
Nick was hungry. He did not believe he had ever been hungrier. He opened and emptied a can of pork and beans and a can of spaghetti into the frying pan […] He started a fire with some chunks of pine he got with the ax from a stump. Over the fire he stuck a wire grill, pushing the four legs down into the ground with his boot. Nick put the frying pan on the grill over the flames. He was hungrier.
Related Themes:
Part II
Explanation and Analysis—Solid Swamp:
As Nick is sitting by the river while camping alone in the woods, he notices a swamp farther down the river. The narrator uses a hyperbole to capture the density of the swamp, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Ahead the river narrowed and went into a swamp. The river became smooth and deep and the swamp looked solid with cedar trees, their trunks close together, their branches solid. It would not be possible to walk through a swamp like that. The branches grew so low. You would have to keep almost level with the ground to move at all […]
He wished he had brought something to read. He felt like reading. He did not feel like going on into the swamp.
Related Themes:
