JUXTAPOSITION

 

From French juxtaposition, from Latin iuxtā ‎(“near”) from Latin iungō ‎(“to join”) + French position ‎(“position”) from Latin pōnō ‎(“to place”)

 

the act of positioning close together (or side by side)

 

the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side; also :  the state of being so placed

 

.Juxtaposition is a literary technique in which two or more ideas, places, characters and their actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts.

In literature, juxtaposition is a useful device for writers to portray their characters in great detail to create suspense and achieve a rhetorical effect. It is a human quality to comprehend one thing easily by comparing it to another. Therefore, a writer can make readers sense “goodness” in a particular character by placing him or her side by side to a character that is predominantly “evil”. Consequently, goodness in one character is highlighted by evil in the other character. Juxtaposition in this case is useful in the development of characters.

 

Juxtaposition Examples in Literature

Example 

John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” is one of the narrative poems that can be used as examples of juxtaposition. This well-crafted literary piece is clearly based on the juxtaposition of two characters