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Hyperbole
Definition of Idiom
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on... read full definition
Chapter 47
Explanation and Analysis—Drink Up:
Saul uses an idiom in Chapter 47 following his disgraced removal from the Leafs’ feeder team. During one of his many drinking episodes, he unpacks what it means to “drink up”:
It's funny how bartenders always tell you to drink up. When you're lost to it like I was, you always drink down. Down beyond accepted everyday things like a home, a job, a family, a neighbourhood. You drink down beyond thinking, beyond emotion. Beyond hope.
By prying apart the phrase, Saul notices how the expression takes on a lightly ironic import. “Drink up”—a saying of hospitality and good cheer—means anything but in the midst of his sorry circumstances. Divorced from his life passion, Saul explains how finishing the glass merely takes him to still deeper depths of sadness. He drinks to the point of addiction and seizures. Saul drinks until he reaches the “bottom of that well.” What would have been a gesture of company in other circumstances is, in this instance, a strange reminder of how far he has fallen. The linguistic quirk underscores everything he has left or lost. Estranged from the Kellys and denied his spot on the feeder team, Saul’s suffering reaches new lows as he travels the path of self-ruin.
Related Themes:
