HYPERBOLES IN LITERATURE
Hyperbole: A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. (The literal
Greek meaning is “overshoot.”) Hyperboles often have a comic effect; however, a serious effect is
also possible. Often, hyperbole produces irony. The opposite of hyperbole is
understatement
.
Hyperbole a device that we employ in our day-to-day speech. For instance, when you meet a friend
after a long time, you say, “Ages have passed since I last saw you”. You may not have met him for
three or four hours or a day, but the use of the word “ages” exaggerates this statement to add
emphasis to your wait. Therefore, a hyperbole is an unreal exaggeration to emphasize the real
situation. Some other common Hyperbole examples are given below.
Example #1
From W.H Auden‛s poem “As I Walked One Evening”
I‛ll love you, dear, I‛ll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,
I‛ll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry
The use of hyperbole can be noticed in the above lines. The meeting of China and Africa, the
jumping of the river over the mountain, singing of salmon in the street, and the ocean being
folded and hung up to be dried are exaggerations not possible in real life.
Example #2
From “The Adventures of Pinocchio” written by C. Colloid
“He cried all night, and dawn found him still there, though his tears had dried and only hard, dry
sobs shook his wooden frame. But these were so loud that they could be heard by the faraway
hills…”
The crying of Pinocchio all night until his tears became dry is an example of hyperbole.
Example #3
From Joseph Conrad‛s novel “The Heart of Darkness”
“I had to wait in the station for ten days-an eternity.”
The wait of ten days seemed to last forever and never end.
