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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 1, Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—From the Air Alone:
Dostoevesky employs imagery, simile, and hyperbole in his description of the bar where Raskolnikov first meets former government official Semyon Marmeladov:
The proprietor of the establishment was in another room, but frequently came into the main room, descending a flight of stairs from somewhere [...] He was wearing a long-skirted coat and a terribly greasy black satin waistcoat, with no necktie, and his whole face was as if oiled like an iron padlock [...] There were chopped pickles, rusks of black bread, and fish cut into pieces, all quite evil-smelling. It was so stuffy that it was almost impossible to sit there, and everything was so saturated with wine-smell that it seemed one could get drunk in five minutes from the air alone.
Raskolnikov enters the bar in an agitated state after completing a “trial” of his plan to murder an elderly pawnbroker. The narrator describes the bar with rich imagery, noting the “greasy” clothing of the proprietor, the “evil-smelling” food sold there, the “stuffy” atmosphere that almost discourages Raskolnikov from sitting down. In a simile, the narrator compares the oily proprietor to an “iron padlock” and hyperbolically claims that the smell of wine is so strong that a person might “get drunk in five minutes from the air alone.” The various literary devices used in this passage underscore the seedy and unwholesome aspects of the bar frequented by the alcoholic Marmeladov.
