Read the given passage and answer the four questions that follow: -
It was a chilly evening in November when Arjun stood on the deserted platform of the old railway station. The clock read 10:15 PM, and the last train was expected soon. He had missed the earlier ones due to an unexpected delay at work. The platform was eerily quiet, the only sound being the distant hum of the city. A cold breeze swept through, making him pull his coat tighter.
Arjun felt physically and emotionally drained. His life had been consumed by work and responsibilities, leaving little time for reflection and joy. Recently, a personal setback had left him questioning his choices. He wondered; What was the point of all the struggles if they didn't lead to fulfillment? The train, in some way, symbolised an escape, a way to leave behind everything that weighted on him and start afresh.
As he stood there, the train's headlights appeared in the distance, cutting the mist like a beacon. The rumbling sound grew louder, and as it approached, Arjun's heart raced, unsure whether he was avoiding his reality. He stepped onto the train, the doors closing behind him with a soft hiss.
Lost in thought, he gazed out of the window at the passing landscape, a mix of darkness and scattered lights. The journey ahead was uncertain, but for the first time in a long while, he felt a sense of possibility. Arjun realised that he wasn't running away; he was heading toward finding a chance to rediscover himself. Change wasn't the end-it was the beginning.
The literary device used in the expression -- 'the doors closing behind him with a soft hiss' is _______.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Onomatopoeia and Alliteration
- Onomatopoeia is the use of a word that imitates the sound it names, so the reader can almost hear it. In "with a soft hiss", the word hiss sounds like the air escaping as the train doors shut.
Example: The bees buzzed around the flowers all afternoon. - Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sound in words placed close together. The expression repeats the h sound in "him ... hiss" and the soft s sound in "closing ... soft ... hiss", which echoes the sound of the doors.
Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Alliteration and Metaphor — Incorrect. A metaphor calls one thing another to show a likeness, without "like" or "as". The doors are not compared to anything; the line describes them literally.
Example: Time is a thief that steals our youth.
Option 2: Transferred epithet — Incorrect. A transferred epithet moves an adjective that describes a person's feeling to a thing connected with that person. "Soft" here describes the hiss itself, a real quality of the sound, not Arjun's feeling.
Example: She spent a sleepless night before the exam.
Option 3: Metaphor and Personification — Incorrect. Personification gives human qualities or actions to a non-human thing. The doors only close and make a mechanical sound; they do nothing human, and there is no metaphor either.
Example: The wind whispered through the trees.
Contrast: onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like what it names (hiss) and alliteration repeats a consonant sound; a metaphor or personification needs a comparison or a human action, which this line does not have.