Parental Overreliance
Strategies
The writer used many literal terms in her story such as satire which is the use of humor and exaggeration to ridicule people with the intentions of criticizing their stupidity particularly with the social problems affecting them. For example, she says, “I tore my 91-year-old father limb from limb with my hands in the town square; I believe no jury of my peers would convict me. Indeed, if they knew all the facts, I think any group of sensible, sane individuals would roll up their shirtsleeves and pitch in (Lho, 2012, para. 1).” Here, the writer is trying to justify her actions while at the same time exposing the weaknesses of the society in pitching in the fight with his father. The use of sarcasm in that sentence gives it a mockery feel which makes the speech memorable and catchy to the audience.
In the commencement of her speech, the author referred her father as nuisance saying “I WAAAAAAAANT MY FATHERRRRRR TO DIEEEEE!!!” (Lho, 2012, para. 1) From a wise person’s point of view, not only did the author wish death on the poor man, but he also introduced her audience to the speech with a descriptive style. The introduction itself gives the audience of what to expect from the rest of the story.
Family Values
The writer has employed the different type of styles in her writing to sensitize on family values. She uses the descriptive style in a narration nature to specify on her family life journey by incorporating sensory details in her description. “MY FATHER’S OLD age began so well. Back in his 70s, to prepare for his sunset years, this Chinese widower had taken the precaution of procuring (after some stunning misfires) his retirement plan: an obedient Chinese-immigrant wife, almost 20 years younger than himself, who, in exchange for citizenship, would—unlike American women”, “I can no longer think of my dad as my “father.” (Lho, 2012, para. 8) But I recognize in him something as familiar to me as myself. To the end, stubborn, babyish, life-loving, he doesn’t want to go to rehab, no, no, no.” (Lho, 2012, para. 8) while giving examples of her friend’s experiences, and of books she has read, the writer is sensitizing on the moral decay of the current society we are living in today. The main character from “Bernard Cooper’s The Bill from My Father” (Lho, 2012, para. 6) received a letter from his father which demanded compensation of the entire childhood expenses he incurred. Throughout the narration, the writer describes the cold relation between her and her dad. As she grew up, she narrates on her experiences with her father. From my view, the writer’s intentions are to educate the society on having good moral towards living a conflict-free life with family members.
Hope
As depicted in the narration, hope is an essential part of human being’s life. “I have seen in you what courage can be when there is no hope” (Lho, 2012, para. 2). Hope not only brings courage, but it also makes the life of a human being quit from being dreadful but rather goes through a transformative experience. “I Can’t Do This Anymore!” (Lho, 2012, para. 3). The narrator of the story loses his hope in the taking care of her dad, and this prompts him from making such an expression. The writer’s intentions are to give hope to the greatest possibilities between the elderly and their caretakers. Hope results to healthy intimacy, fostering love, reconnection, and the sharing of strength. Hopes give caregivers a chance to feel in a more composed state of adulthood (Wünsch, 2013). “This is it—it’s it—Papa’s dead,” (Lho, 2012, para. 3). The author of the narration lost hope about her father’s survival after panic and confusion get the better of her.
The Sense of Humor
Majority of the narration is filled with the tendency of particular experience that provokes laughter and amusement to the audience. “Why caring for my aging father has me wishing he would die” (Lho, 2012, para. 1) is the first instance of humor in the article. The author uses a suitable title of her narration that creates humor making the audience eager on knowing the daddy issues that would make somebody wish death upon his/her. “As he had benefited financially for years by forging my signature, so I ended up paying his taxes—ah, the great circle of life” (Lho, 2012, para. 4 ). The author is explaining the characters of her father on something rather awkward that he used to do back in the days hence bringing humor in the narration. After the diagnosis of her father, the author didn’t expect her father to survive. However, the old man woke up. The author introduce the sense of humor by saying that she felt like hitting the dad with a frying pan to kill since that was the best chance. She continuous to say that her problems started immediately her dad woke up. Alice the Chinese house girl employed to take care of the author's father is used in the text to bring the sense of humor. “Alice is starting to disturb the tenants: waving butcher knives at them, hurling their things into the street” (Lho, 2012, para. 5). Instead of doing is expected of her, the house girl is usually found loitering around the streets at late time at night.
Conclusion
A keen look at the title of the story from a modern perspective, the audience might find the claims as absurd. The author of the article has used the language with a combination of persuasions well to bring out the hidden meaning to her audience. Through employing these tactics the author gives her audience the chance to visualize the meaning, impact and better insight of the about the author’s issues. In that story, the author targets the growing population in taking care of the elderly people. The depiction of the house girl neglecting the author’s father and his life at risk suggests that negligence is real in the modern society. When one considers the whole context of the story, it is evident that the use of good rhetoric strategies has aided the author in sensitizing the growing population in a story that seems logic and emotional.
References
Chowalloor, P., Keen, H., & Inderjeeth, C. (2013). Gout in the elderly. OA Elderly Medicine, 1(1). doi:10.13172/2054-734x-1-1-776
Wünsch, M. (2013). TV: Family Values. Pop, 2(1). doi:10.14361/pop.2013.0105
Lho, S. (2012, March). Daddy Issues - The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/03/daddy-issues/308890/
