Question

Well, I was perfectly honest and square with her; told her I hadn't a cent in the world but just the million-pound note she'd heard so much talk about, and it didn't belong to me, and that started her curiosity; and then I talked low, and told her the whole history right from the start, and it nearly killed her laughing. What in the nation she could find to laugh about I couldn't see, but there it was; every half-minute some new detail would fetch her, and I would have to stop as much as a minute and a half to give her a chance to settle down again. Why, she laughed herself lame--she did, indeed; I never saw anything like it. I mean I never saw a painful story--a story of a person's troubles and worries and fears--produce just that kind of effect before. Which rhetorical device is demonstrated in the excerpt?

Answer 1

The answer is Hyperbole.

The Hyperbole is a figure of speech that shows exaggeration to show emphasis or to make a point.

This excerpt shows this in phrases like:

"I told her I hadn't a cent in the world"

"I talked low, and told her the whole story right from the start and nearly killed her laughing."

"What in the nation..."

"I never saw anything like it."

"I never saw a painful story"

All of these sentences in the excerpt demonstrate a type of exaggeration from the writer to add emphasis to them. Words like "never, in the world, killed her laughing", etc. aren't literal. They are used just to add this extra importance to each sentence and show contrast or attract reader's attention.