This question is based on Literary Principles. 'At the start of the winter came the permanent rain and with the rain came the cholera. But it was checked an...

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The passage above from Hemingway's "Farewell to Arms" is an example of understatement. Understatement is a figure of speech in which something is intentionally represented as less important than it really is. In this passage, the narrator mentions the outbreak of cholera in the army, but downplays its severity by saying that "only seven thousand" died from it. While the loss of even one life to cholera is tragic, the phrase "only seven thousand" suggests that the narrator views this number as relatively small compared to what it could have been. This understatement is a characteristic technique of Hemingway's spare, understated writing style.