Definition of Hyperbole
Throughout the novella, the narrator uses hyperbole, exaggerating the events described to heighten the novella’s humor. His description of Candide’s first night alone after being kicked out of the Baron’s court for attempting to woo his cousin exemplifies this hyperbole:
CANDIDE, DRIVEN FROM terrestrial paradise, walked a long while without knowing where, weeping, raising his eyes to heaven, turning them often towards the most magnificent of castles which imprisoned the purest of noble young ladies. He lay down to sleep without supper, in the middle of a field between two furrows. The snow fell in large flakes. Next day Candide, all benumbed, dragged himself towards the neighbouring town which was called Waldberghofftrarbk-dikdorff, having no money, dying of hunger and fatigue, he stopped sorrowfully at the door of an inn.