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Hyperbole
Explanation and Analysis—Auditorium Rain:
Holden uses smell imagery and hyperbolic description to invoke the comforting, enveloping auditorium at the Museum of Natural History:
[...] [T]he inside of that auditorium had such a nice smell. It always smelled like it was raining outside, even if it wasn’t, and you were in the only nice, dry, cosy place in the world.
Holden loves the auditorium, and thinking about it spurs some of the most romantic associations for him that the Museum evokes. Holden recalls that the auditorium’s smell was "like it was raining outside, even if it wasn’t.” The imagery of smell in this passage evokes a sense of being deliciously inside when it’s bad outside, sheltered from the weather. Even if it isn’t raining outside, the auditorium feels so safe and inviting that, by comparison, it might as well be.
This passage is also an example of hyperbole, as Holden describes being in the auditorium as feeling like “you were in the only nice, dry, cosy place in the world.” The hyperbole draws the reader’s attention to the sense of refuge Holden feels here. Although, of course, there are safer places “in the world” than public libraries, to Holden it’s the ultimate sanctuary. He often feels anxious and depressed in other settings, but the library makes him feel welcomed and safe.
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