Read the excerpt below and answer the question.

"You've got to realize," he said, "that I don't want you to do it if you don't want to. I'm perfectly willing to go through with it if it means anything to you."

"Doesn't it mean anything to you? We could get along."

Which literary device is used in the passage above?

Options:

irony

sarcasm

understatement

foreshadowing

I think it is understatement

Answer: Understatement

Explanation:

Understatement is a figure of speech in which the speaker describes a situation making it seem less important or serious than it really is. It is often used to be more polite, or for ironic or humorous effects.

The passage uses this figure of speech because the speaker is deliberately trying to convey that his desire for" someone to do something" is not strong, and such desire may be absent, however, in reality, the speaker does want the other person to do it otherwise, he would not repeat the same ideas over and over again through the passage and he would not end it with the "Doesn't it mean anything to you? We could get along" question.