Behind The Look: The Look By Michael Sullivan

You may not have perceived that this life, the way we have been brought up has condition us to be unseeing to some obvious situations in this world. Visibly picture in your head what it means to be homeless at that same time think why are those people homeless? During this recent article, Michael Sullivan wrote, I was homeless; ‘the look’ judged me worthless, to share with all readers in different communities. Sullivan has an overwhelming sense of personal experiences shared which gives a great insight to draw his readers to an emotional side as well as a connection of trust with him. While using examples of pathos and ethos his readers are likely to feel a connection to his article and see things differently as he did during his own life experience.
Indeed, Sullivan’s experiences played a vast factor in his pathos appeal to his readers.
Dreadfully needing any type of work, whether it be full or part time that desperation led to his story of how he ended up washing his hair in the toilet and using the soap dispensers to wash up and be as presentable as he could due to his circumstances. Nevertheless, with all his attempts walking for virtually all day and evenings with most nights of no good rest, he still received what he likes to call “the look”. The anxiety of “the look” made such a devastating impact on him that even though he was drained of walking all day and evening instead of sitting down on the e train, he got up to try and evade “the look” again, hiding his unshaven face and grimy hair. Yet the fear alone was not enough to keep this from happening again. Subsequently one day being so exhausted from walking one end of Manhattan to the other with
several days of no rest, he swiftly fell asleep at an eatery to only be awoken by a thump from a lady and her umbrella which then he noticed he quickly got “the look” once more. He further goes on to enlighten on this look as he was sure he had done once before. It was something he was sure this had been conditioned at a very young age to perceive all homeless people as “worthless alcoholics and drug addicts they were not human -- they were thugs and murderers and a burden to society.” Additionally, he tells of how unbearable one cold night was that he intentionally hid to get locked into a church in New York City to just stay warm. He even states on that night the rest of the world “was toasting the arrival of 1984” while he stayed out of the cold with God. Even though his life experience and stories which led his readers to having the capability of being closer to feeling some of his sorrow with him during those trying years. These first hand personal experiences give him a sense of trustworthiness and credibility. So much that the out pour of contact he received from others that have or are going through those tough times shared with him what their personal experience was. For Sullivan being that most of his novel had been written on the e train in New York this is all views that only a person going through can comprehend. Eager that his readers will be able to sense that and know that he was just like any ordinary person before he was homeless.