Of course, this book is pretty long so there are numerous literary techniques used. I will give you a few from the first chapter.
In this chapter, the authors are trying to set the scene for the rest of the story. They are trying to show their father as a very capable and important man, even if he is a bit eccentric. Here are some ways they do that.
- Hyperbole -- saying that he needed to weigh himself of a railroad scales is surely hyperbole, but it sort of portrays him as a solid and imposing man.
- Allusion -- they say he has "enough gall to be divided into three parts." This is a pun as well as an allusion to Julius Caesar's phrase "Gaul is divided into three parts." This makes us amused and helps us understand that the story is supposed to be funny.
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the title of the story. It's an allusion, I guess, to the fact that often you can get things cheaper when you buy a lot of them at once. The father used to say that about the children often (it's in Chapter 3).
I hope that helps...