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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
Hyperbole
Explanation and Analysis—Epsom Salts:
Near the end of the story, the narrator describes how his mother relates to health issues, using a hyperbole in the process:
I got worried about my mother’s health.
She was never worried about mine.
She thought that there was no illness in the world a stiff dose of hot Epsom Salts couldn’t cure. That was a penance I had to endure once a month. It completely ruined my weekend.
The narrator uses a hyperbole here when claiming that his mother “thought that there was no illness in the world a stiff dose of hot Epsom Salts couldn’t cure.” He uses hyperbolic language in order to underline his previous exaggerated claim—that his mother “never worried” about his health. To the narrator, his mother’s love of Epsom salts is unwarranted, extreme, and a sign of how neglectful she is.
It is notable that another way to read the narrator’s monthly Epsom salt baths is as a sign of his mother’s deep and abiding care for him. This facet of his mother only becomes apparent to the narrator in the final moments of the story when he sees her cry over his broken arm and realizes that she does care for him, noting, with awe, that “she could be worried and anxious for me.”
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