Question

"The heart that feels not is dead; the blood of his children will curse his cowardice who shrinks back at a time when a little might have saved the whole and made them happy." What is the purpose of the figurative language in this excerpt?

Answer 1

• In “The Crisis No. 1” by Thomas Paine, the writer uses plenty of figurative language to persuade the audience to believe that America needed to be independent from Great Britain.

• In the given particular excerpt, Paine uses figurative language to induce the reader shame for putting self-preservation (or "cowardice" as he says) above the welfare of the community or “the whole”.