THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SUPPORTING CHARACTERS IN "DEATH OF A HERO" BY RICHARD ALDINGTON: PRAGMATIC FUNCTIONS OF THE STYLSTIC DEVICES

Abstract

This article discusses the function and positioning of stylistic devices in a literary pragmatics setting. Literary pragmatics gives an interpretation of the text in light of concealed information by operating on the level of "author - work - reader." The study focuses on the stylistic analysis of the author's descriptions of the supporting characters in Richard Aldington's book "Death of a Hero" and identifies the practical purposes of the provided stylistic techniques as sources of implicit information. Richard Aldington uses direct descriptions in addition to using their words to elucidate his characters. While the author's descriptions help us assess the situation more accurately by highlighting specific personal characteristics, stylistic figures in dialogues aid in character understanding, and phonetic and graphic stylistic devices frequently hint at their social background or emotional state. In the direct descriptions, lexical strata are the stylistic devices that are most commonly utilized. Not only do they improve the language of a book, but they also provide the author the ability to control his audience, guide them in the right way, and subtly affect how they view the characters. Because of the author's use of stylistic elements, it is implied that the protagonist and his surroundings have always been in a state of profound miscommunication, regardless of where he was in life at any one time. One especially significant pragmatic purpose of the employment of stylistic devices is the contrast of the use of tropes in the descriptions of the supporting characters vs the main characters.