In chapter 20 I was able to discover an example of an understatement as well as an exaggeration. The understatement I found was after the author has been shot he hears the nurses discussing his injury. "Diaper rash, the nurses called it" (pg 182). O'Brien follows their statement by saying that their comment only makes him hate Jorgenson even more (Jorgenson is the doctor that wasnt able to treat him correctly after he was shot).
On the other end of the spectrum, in the next paragraph of this chapter the author exaggerates when describing danger. "You could still die of course- once a month we'd get hit with mortar fire- but you could also die in the bleachers at Met Stadium in Minneapolis, bases loaded, Harmon Killebrew coming to the plate" (pg 183). Although i suppose it is possible to die at Met Stadium, it is highly unlikely. The author uses this exaggeration to relate the sense of safety the soldiers had where he was now stationed (after being shot twice) to the sense of safety people have just about anywhere they go. No matter where a person goes there is always a possibitlity of danger. I chose to blog about these two examples because I found it interesting that O'Brien was able to use two opposite techniques so close together.
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