Hyperbole as a Stylistic Device in Thomas Wolfe`s The Far and the Near: A Stylistic Analysis

This study analyzes hyperbole as a main stylistic technique employed by Thomas Wolfe in his short story "The Far and the Near". The story tells about a train engineer who is emotionally controlled by a woman and her little daughter who used to wave to him every day at 2 p.m., a time at which the train used to pass their cottage. After retirement, the man decides to visit the two women, but the visit was so shocking and the man`s opinion changes from the extreme of praise and attachment to the extreme of hatred and disdain. Between the two extremes, Wolfe exploits hyperbole to emphasize the antithesis and show the difference between the two stages. This basically reflects the significant role of the style in weaving the lines of the story and in foregrounding the comparison between the "Far" and the "Near". To analyze hyperbole, the study uses the Conceptual Blending Theory presented by Facuconnier & Turner (2002) to show how a comparison was made between two stages, representing two different opinions. Moreover, the study traces the different types of hyperbole, applying a theoretical framework presented by Claridge (2011). The results indicate that a comparison was purposefully made between two stages. Through Blending Theory, the space inputs of the two stages were connected to each other by various conceptual processes. Moreover the types of hyperbole presented showed that it was a main style for presenting the central theme of the story.