Soapstone Analysis Beautiful Boy

The identified speaker is the Author David Sheff as he give accounts of his family ultimately leading to the struggle of his son’s addiction. I can make the immediate assumption that Sheff and his family are at of a middle class family from the various accounts of trips they go on and the somewhat financially-easy transition of a divorce in the family. Sheff seems to have a good handling of his adolescent boy and it makes me assume that he comes from a background of experiences in his teenage years.
Occasion
What prompted the author to write this piece was originally a need to assess and to have a hold of the present anxieties that were taking over during the times the author writes about. The event that led to the development and publication was the feeling of a moral obligation that the author felt to tell people a story that could bring hope and a sense of courage through any struggle in a family.
Audience
The speaker doesn’t necessarily identify an audience, but he does speak to and gives in depth to the minds of parents from all backgrounds, giving the idea that all parents have a common feeling. The audience reading Sheff’s book can feel nervous and add on to their own insecurities as a parent but also relieved at the fact of the commonality of their struggle which Sheff points out. The main audience would definitely have to be any parent but also any person who wants to see how bonds of unconditional love can easily be broken by something in form is so miniscule. There are many phrases that give incredible imagery such as, “Sometimes we just stare at the baby’s tiny grasping hands and luminous, exuberant eyes.” The language used isn’t for a unique audience but it is used to explain to people and give an emotional feel of what being a loving parent is like. The speaker uses this type of language to not only draw emotion, but to also empathize with every reader.
Purpose
The speaker’s purpose is to give the audience insight of how similar humans can