comment on language and meaning

The author adds color and depth of meaning to the narrative by utilizing a variety of literary devices including metaphors, colloquialisms, idioms and literary allusions. The use of colloquialisms aids in the description of situations or characters and often states the truth about a situation. For example, Angela wonders if her husband is telling the truth that he only slept with another woman one time or if he had continued to do so. But she thinks he must have continued because a "leopard never changes his spots" (127). The colloquial phrase expresses that someone is who they are and that they never really change their basic nature, so therefore Angela assumes Nick continued in his affair.