Throughout "The Devoted Friend," Wilde employs a large amount of alliteration. This stylistic choice gives the story a light and playful rhythm, which reinforces the story's connection to fables and fairy tales, both of which are often quite musical.
Right away, in the story's first paragraph, there are multiple instances of alliteration. In the first sentence, the /h/ sound repeats four times: "the old Water-rat put his head out of his hole." The following sentence goes on to describe him with a number of words that begin with the /b/ sound: "He had bright beady eyes and stiff grey whiskers, and his tail was like a long bit of black india-rubber." When the Linnet appears, the narrator specifies that he is "swinging upon a silver spray" while the animals converse. As the Linnet begins to tell the story about Hans, Wilde sustains this tendency to repeat sounds even within the inner story.
This alliterative pattern conforms to the conventions of the genres of fables, fairy tales, and folk tales. Sound and rhythm are particularly important in these genres, as these sorts of stories originate in oral culture. Not only does it make the story more musical, the alliteration also reminds the reader that the story about Hans is fictional. This ensures that, although his life is dramatic and sad, the reader won't get too caught up pitying him but instead reflect on the moral lessons contained in the story. The sound and rhythm produced by alliteration contribute to the relaxed mood and lighthearted tone that dominate the story.
