The Doomed In Their Sinking Summary
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The Doomed in Their Sinking By William H. Gass
“The Doomed in Their Sinking” is more than a short piece of non-fiction by William Gass. William Gass talks about his parents and struggles to recognize the reasons behind suicide. Gass opens this essay, talking about his mother suicide but he is unaware of the reason why his mother did suicide? He not only talks deeply about suicide but also talks about what keeps us going, but questions is it love, beliefs, faith, hope, etc. Gass uses examples and reasons of suicide in this essay. “Definitions of suicide, like definitions of adultery, are invariably normative, and frequently do little more than reflect the shallowest social attitudes, embody the most parochial perspectives”(37-38). Gass uses similes, pathos, ethos, anaphora, and the way his essay written to justify suicide.
As stated by Hix in his book, “It is an essay toward an considerate of suicide, with specific attention paid to suicide and writers from the very start (Hix47). “To find out the reason of suicide, he gives the historical example of renowned peoples like …show more content…
Socrates, Malcom Lowr and Kamikaze pilots. They all did suicide directly or indirectly here he used ethos to support his point of view for example, “Socrates acquiesced to his own execution, others demand theirs. The Kamikaze pilot intends his death, but does not desire it. Malcolm Lowry, who choked on his vomit, evidently desired his, but did not intend it”. While giving examples of individuals he also tried to figure out the various reasons of suicide like for him excessive smoking or binge drinking are also indirect ways of suicide because gunshot or cutting vein are direct ways of suicide but these indirect ways are also as dangerous as direct methods. There is another rhetoric tool he used in his essay by saying, “…the ironic thing about suicide…is that it is a wholly empty act.”(75). Gass flicks his wand and presents a list of suicides, explanations, allusions, some ambiguous, some notorious by saying; “Plath with pills, or Craine or Woolf with water, Plath again by gas, or Berryman from a bridge” (12).
Furthermore there are many examples of pathos like; the world of the suicidal is, in a certain sense (for all its familiar elements: pain, grief, confusion, failure, loss…”And then at another place he states; “Some simply think of death as the absence of their present state, a state which pursues them like a malignant disease and which cannot be otherwise escaped” (60).
At the last line , Gass closes essay by saying ," Putting one's mother into words...It may have been easier to put her in her grave " .He also uses metaphors in reference to suicide, such as "their thoughts are open razors, their eyes go off like guns,...he own ocean like a message in a bottle so that she sank slowly somewhere as a stone sill sinks beneath the shoes of pilgrims and tourists, not like Plath with pills, or Crane or Woolf with water, Plath again by gas, or Berryman from a
bridge..."(12)
Additionally Gass is trying to justify suicide and persuade his audience by practicing rhetoric moves but on the other hand he unleashes some of the harshest, utmost unsentimental believed about suicide like; “Death will not fill up an empty life….” (60). He determines that if a suicidal being desires their suicide to be recognized as a suicide by persons who remain, that individual will require to make their intentions very clear indeed. “The Kamikaze pilot intends his death, but does not desire it.” (29). the title of this essay is very important and somehow explains the content of essay. Gass also practiced run on sentences in this piece of writing. May be the reason behind using run on sentences is his style where he wanted to tell his audience that he is writing directly and without stopping that comes in his mind.
In conclusion, one can say that Gass uses rhetoric tools to make his non fictional writing very impressive. The theme of this essay is simple but he add everything in his essay from the meaning of suicide to the ways of suicide, reasons of suicide and his personal views about suicide.
Work cited
Hix, Harvey L. Understanding William H. Gass. University of South Carolina Press, 2002.43
Oates, Joyce Carol and Robert Atwan. The Best American Essays of the Century. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2000. Print.
Submitted by Date
The Doomed in Their Sinking By William H. Gass
“The Doomed in Their Sinking” is more than a short piece of non-fiction by William Gass. William Gass talks about his parents and struggles to recognize the reasons behind suicide. Gass opens this essay, talking about his mother suicide but he is unaware of the reason why his mother did suicide? He not only talks deeply about suicide but also talks about what keeps us going, but questions is it love, beliefs, faith, hope, etc. Gass uses examples and reasons of suicide in this essay. “Definitions of suicide, like definitions of adultery, are invariably normative, and frequently do little more than reflect the shallowest social attitudes, embody the most parochial perspectives”(37-38). Gass uses similes, pathos, ethos, anaphora, and the way his essay written to justify suicide.
As stated by Hix in his book, “It is an essay toward an considerate of suicide, with specific attention paid to suicide and writers from the very start (Hix47). “To find out the reason of suicide, he gives the historical example of renowned peoples like …show more content…
Socrates, Malcom Lowr and Kamikaze pilots. They all did suicide directly or indirectly here he used ethos to support his point of view for example, “Socrates acquiesced to his own execution, others demand theirs. The Kamikaze pilot intends his death, but does not desire it. Malcolm Lowry, who choked on his vomit, evidently desired his, but did not intend it”. While giving examples of individuals he also tried to figure out the various reasons of suicide like for him excessive smoking or binge drinking are also indirect ways of suicide because gunshot or cutting vein are direct ways of suicide but these indirect ways are also as dangerous as direct methods. There is another rhetoric tool he used in his essay by saying, “…the ironic thing about suicide…is that it is a wholly empty act.”(75). Gass flicks his wand and presents a list of suicides, explanations, allusions, some ambiguous, some notorious by saying; “Plath with pills, or Craine or Woolf with water, Plath again by gas, or Berryman from a bridge” (12).
Furthermore there are many examples of pathos like; the world of the suicidal is, in a certain sense (for all its familiar elements: pain, grief, confusion, failure, loss…”And then at another place he states; “Some simply think of death as the absence of their present state, a state which pursues them like a malignant disease and which cannot be otherwise escaped” (60).
At the last line , Gass closes essay by saying ," Putting one's mother into words...It may have been easier to put her in her grave " .He also uses metaphors in reference to suicide, such as "their thoughts are open razors, their eyes go off like guns,...he own ocean like a message in a bottle so that she sank slowly somewhere as a stone sill sinks beneath the shoes of pilgrims and tourists, not like Plath with pills, or Crane or Woolf with water, Plath again by gas, or Berryman from a
bridge..."(12)
Additionally Gass is trying to justify suicide and persuade his audience by practicing rhetoric moves but on the other hand he unleashes some of the harshest, utmost unsentimental believed about suicide like; “Death will not fill up an empty life….” (60). He determines that if a suicidal being desires their suicide to be recognized as a suicide by persons who remain, that individual will require to make their intentions very clear indeed. “The Kamikaze pilot intends his death, but does not desire it.” (29). the title of this essay is very important and somehow explains the content of essay. Gass also practiced run on sentences in this piece of writing. May be the reason behind using run on sentences is his style where he wanted to tell his audience that he is writing directly and without stopping that comes in his mind.
In conclusion, one can say that Gass uses rhetoric tools to make his non fictional writing very impressive. The theme of this essay is simple but he add everything in his essay from the meaning of suicide to the ways of suicide, reasons of suicide and his personal views about suicide.
Work cited
Hix, Harvey L. Understanding William H. Gass. University of South Carolina Press, 2002.43
Oates, Joyce Carol and Robert Atwan. The Best American Essays of the Century. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2000. Print.