Figurative Language In Guy De Maupassant's A Duel

In the short story “A Duel”, Guy de Maupassant writes a descriptive tale about a countryman of Paris France, and his trials with an distasteful Prussian officer. In this short story Maupassant uses his figurative language to portray the distraught and demoralized city of Paris. Maupassant's use of irony, figurative language, style, tone and other elements make this story captivating for the readers. Maupassant uses a delightful flourish to this writing by expressing an underdog situation for the readers to appreciate. Maupassant’s story starts off explaining the troubled city of Paris after the war where the German soldiers have conquered. Maupassant follows Freytag's pyramid perfectly. In the exposition, Maupassant introduces a man who had been a National Guard in Paris during the war who was now traveling to join his wife and daughter after sending them to Switzerland to prevent their death during raids (⅓). While on the train, a Prussian officer gloats about murdering French civilians to two Englishmen that are out sightseeing (⅓). The Englishmen were at first intrigued by the stories until this officer began taunting M. Dubuis with statements such as “I killed a dozen Frenchmen in that village and took more than a hundred prisoners” (1/3). The authors use of similes to give the reader a vivid detailed scenario
His use of third-person omniscient is constant throughout the passage. The author shows this by the following quote “He stared with mingled fear and anger at those bearded armed men” (Maupassant 1/3). The reader has the feelings and thoughts of Dubuis, the Prussian officer, and the Englishmen who had more to do with the story than meets the eye. While the tense is in the present, there was obviously tension throughout the nation and hatred between many people because of this war, keeping this story interesting and leaving the reader on the edge of their seat throughout the