Rhetorical Strategies
- Repetition: “…they seemed bored as hell. I talked with one of them and she was bored with yachts and bored with flying around in airplanes and bored with skiing in Switzerland at Christmas and bored with the men in Brazil” (4). The repetition of bored in this paragraph is used to display the speaker’s monotonous tone, as well as the exasperation of the “bored” girls. Also, the repetition of such a negative word as bored and the list of normally interesting activities contrast to display the irony of the situation.
- Simile: “Everything she said was like a secret voice speaking straight out of my own bones” (7) Plath uses a variety of similes to add imagery and tone throughout the novel. Most of her similes are either grotesque or bland which impart a contradictory tone of despair and carelessness at the same time. Occasionally she uses similes to describe how people look, and these are often either declaratory or admiring which lightens the mood slightly.
- Paradox: “At first I wondered why the room felt so safe. Then I realized it was because there were no windows” (127) This is paradoxical because normally when there are no windows, most people feel caged in and scared, where as with Esther it makes her feel safer. Plath uses multiple paradoxes to demonstrate Esther’s unusual way of thinking and to show her thoughtful, dissecting tone.
- Plath uses a variety of other rhetorical strategies to display her tone such as onomatopoeia, metaphors, and imagery. These strategies create a duller tone by being negative connotations which displays Esther’s unhappiness.
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