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55 pages 1 hour read

Hunter S. Thompson

Fear and Loathing On the Campaign Trail '72

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 1973

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Literary Devices

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a literary device that involves deliberate exaggeration or overstatement to emphasize a point, evoke strong feelings, or create dramatic effect. It is not meant to be taken literally but is used to express the intensity of a situation or emotion. Hyperbole is a cornerstone of Hunter S. Thompson’s writing style and Gonzo journalism. His prose is filled with wild accusations (of drug use and criminality, for example) that are completely unfounded but gesture toward some deeper truth. When he accuses Ed Muskie of being addicted to Ibogaine, for example, he is using hyperbole to illustrate the doomed nature of Muskie’s demeanor, hinting at the seemingly artificial energy that is keeping the floundering campaign afloat. Hyperbole in Thompson’s writing enhances storytelling by making descriptions more vivid, humorous, or emotionally impactful. Whether he is threatening Frank Mankiewicz or writing threatening letters to his colleagues, Thompson’s writing is filled with dramatic exaggerations to emphasize his points.

Flashback

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 is a series of Thompson’s essays published during the 1972 presidential election. Thompson submitted regular articles (when he met his deadline), moving around the linear election timeline by using various structural devices, including flashback. A flashback is a literary device in which a narrative shifts from the present to a past event, providing background or context to help illuminate the current situation, character, or plot. Flashbacks reveal important information, explain a character’s motivations, or deepen readers’ understanding of a story. By momentarily stepping back in time, flashbacks enrich the present narrative by offering insight into events that shaped the story or its characters. Thompson uses flashbacks throughout the book, often returning to the same event numerous times, revealing a new perspective on the past as he describes changes in his present. For example, he presents the incident on the train in Florida as humorous and then as the symbolic end of Muskie’s campaign. Similarly, Thompson revisits his unassuming meeting with McGovern in a largely empty room at the beginning of the campaign after McGovern wins the nomination to illustrate how much has changed in such a short space of time.

Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony is a literary device in which the audience or readers are aware of key information or facts that the characters within the story do not know. This creates tension or contrast between what the characters understand about their situation and what the audience knows to be true. Dramatic irony is often used to heighten suspense, humor, or tragedy, but its use in a nonfiction work such as Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 is notably different. The clearest example is the Watergate scandal, a pivotal moment in American history that caused Richard Nixon to resign during the second term of his presidency due to his involvement in the cover-up of a break-in at the Democratic Party offices in the Watergate Hotel in 1972. The book alludes to the break-in, but the full breadth and consequences of the scandal were not yet apparent. Thus, unintentional dramatic irony occurs in which readers likely know more about the Watergate scandal; at the time that Thompson wrote the book’s content, knowledge of the scandal remained peripheral and speculative. This unintentional dramatic irony adds an extra layer of tragedy to McGovern’s doomed campaign, since his failure to beat Nixon in 1972 meant that the 1976 election was fought (and won) by one of the Old Guard Democrats that McGovern tried so hard to overcome.

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