Rhetorical Devices In The Custom House

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Hawthorne depicts the US Federal Government as cruel, careless, fake, and untrustworthy towards the fellow citizens in this passage from “ The Custom House.” He expresses his distaste for the Government through his use of Metaphors seen all throughout as he compares the government to the eagle that “ has no great tenderness, even in her best of moods, and, sooner or later,- oftener soon than late,- is apt to fling off her nestlings with a scratch of her claw, a dab of her beak, or a rankling wound from her barbed arrows.” to show how cruel they are, he also shifts from a caring tone to a frustrated tone to reveal his attitude towards the government as well as revealing their true intentions, lastly Hawthorne uses imagery to describe the government