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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
Book 1: The Perforated Sheet
Explanation and Analysis—Pig's Skin:
Toward the beginning of the novel, the boatman Tai speaks with Aadam Aziz, reprimanding him for his newly acquired Western habits and belongings. Tai does not trust foreigners—and once he discovers something foreign haunting Aadam Aziz, recently returned from Germany, he shuns the young man. Rushdie communicates Tai's distaste for Westernization using hyperbole:
"We haven’t got enough bags at home that you must bring back that thing made of a pig’s skin that makes one unclean just by looking at it? And inside, God knows what all."
Related Themes:
Book 1: Under the Carpet
Explanation and Analysis—Alia's Bruises:
Toward the end of Book 1, Section 4—Under the Carpet, Alia receives the upsetting news that her sister, Mumtaz/Amina, will soon be wed to Ahmed Sinai. Alia previously made it known that Ahmed Sinai was the man she intended to marry, so she is deeply hurt by her sister's actions. Saleem communicates this hurt to the reader through the use of hyperbole, comparing Alia's experiences to those of her father:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[Alia] had been bruised even more badly than her father in Jallianwala Bagh; and you couldn’t see a mark on her.
Related Themes:
Book 1: A Public Announcement
Explanation and Analysis—Soldier's Knife:
As a means of beginning Book 1, Section 5—A Public Announcement, Saleem uses parenthetical asides to allude to the forthcoming independence and Partition of India (which split India into two separate countries, India and Pakistan). In one such aside, Saleem discusses the Earl of Mountbatten, final British viceroy over India, whose technique for dividing the continent is hyperbolic indeed:
Unlock with LitCharts A+(But, of course, in fact Earl Mountbatten, the last viceroy, would be with us any day, with his inexorable ticktock, his soldier’s knife that could cut subcontinents in three, and his wife who ate chicken breasts secretly behind a locked lavatory door.).
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