JAMB - Literature In English (1999 - No. 36)
This question is based on Literary Principles.
The commissioner, who was also the local magistrate, peered at the two men. He did not go near because, fastidiously, he too wished to avoid the odour of travel that clung to them. Except for the alpaca jacket, which he wore in the office, he was a model of starched and expensive neatness from his lean skull to the gleaming toes of his formal shoes.
Alex La Guma, 'Time of the Butcherbird'
From the except above, the writer condemns the Commissioner by employing a
convenient setting
contemptuous tone
stark metaphor
graphic description
Explanation
In the excerpt from Alex La Guma's Time of the Butcherbird, the writer uses a contemptuous tone to criticise the Commissioner. The description of his "starched and expensive neatness" and his fastidious avoidance of the men's odour highlights his detachment, superiority, and lack of empathy. This tone conveys disdain for the Commissioner's obsession with appearances and his disregard for the humanity of others.
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