Hyperbole is overstatement, and there are three examples here; the first is "everything was so interesting." The word "everything" is overstating Cholly's interest in what he is experiencing. A second example describes the body; Cholly wonders if it is "ice cold," surely an exaggeration of what he has been told about the cool temperature of a corpse. A third use of hyperbole is that he wonders if bodies are ice cold "like everybody said." It is unlikely that "everybody" made this exaggeration.

Alliteration is the repetition of initial vowel sounds, and there are repetitions of both "h" of "t" in this sentence: "He had trudged back to his pew dry eyed amid tearful shrieks and shouts of others, wondering if he should try to cry." Furthermore, there are repeated "sh" sounds in "shrieks and shouts."

The details that Toni Morrison uses to characterize Cholly underscore the fact that he has not been properly parented. He has no one to help him understand the facts and rituals surrounding a death. His confusion is understandable, but his lack of feeling is less so. Because Cholly later becomes a rapist and abusive husband, readers can look at this scene as an early hint of his sociopathic tendencies. He is unable to grieve, yet he has a conscience about disturbing a corpse by merely touching it. He is aware that his behavior is not like the others' at the funeral.

The hyperbole helps readers understand that Cholly is socially immature, as do the details of his curiosity about the body. The contrast of Cholly's behavior with the mourners' helps us to understand that he isn't quite normal. The alliteration makes the sounds of the funeral rich in imagery and emphasizes how Cholly stands out against the scene.