Rhetorical Techniques Used In Lamb's Return To London

Lamb is a man willing to give up a friendship in order to avoid leaving his home city. In his response to Wordsworth’s invitation he uses rhetorical devices such as hyperboles, personification, and comparisons to blatantly deny Wordsworth.
Lamb’s choice of wording and use of those words stresses how much he would rather stay in London than visit the countryside. Lamb in the one example of this is “---shall ever be able to afford so desperate a journey.” He used the words “afford” and “desperate” to emphasize how much of a burden the trip would be for him in both time and money. Also as he speaks about London he states that “the wonder of these sights impels [him]” giving the idea that the sights of London draw him in and make him want to stay. He also mentions “the impossibility of being dull in Fleet Street”. The part with “impossibility of being dull” is an exaggeration due to his use of “impossibility” with implying that it is difficult to become bored in the city.

He takes pity on Wordsworth because “the mind will make friends of anything” meaning even though he, Lamb, who hates the mountains still managed to become friends with a man who lives in such an area.

This use of personification drives Lamb’s message of strong dislike of the very land Wordsworth resides in. He also refers to his book case as “a faithful dog” that has “followed” him around. This suggested that he takes the bookcase with him to whatever homes he may have moved to and therefore is an important piece of his life. The previous observations make Lamb appear to prefer inanimate objects and the city over his friendship with

Wordsworth.
The use of comparisons pushes Lamb’s general message farther. He says that he has “formed as many and intense attachments…as mountaineers....dead nature” to contrast his like for London to the mountaineers’ like of the mountains. All in all he is saying he would rather stay in London than visit Wordsworth by using this comparison. Lamb also calls London a “pantomime and a masquerade” as if he prefers something fake over what is natural like the mountains.
And a final example is a question. Lamb asks Wordsworth along the lines of “Why do I have to leave these pretty sights of London to see your mountains and dull nature?” This gives Lamb’s overall tone and further conveys the message of his response.
This man makes it so obvious that he simply does not want to go to the mountains doesn’t he? He likes London. He strongly likes London. He loves London. Lamb prefers London over his friendship with Wordsworth, and denies visiting him. Lamb’s response is straight to the point through rhetorical devices. This man comes out as stubborn through the way he used these devices while making Wordsworth seem like something along the lines of a country hick not worth keeping a relationship with.
In the end Lamb expresses his message through and it is pretty hard to miss.