Rhetoric Study

This is an excerpt from the novel following a conversation between Frank Bascombe and a man named Herb.

"'I'm a verb, Frank. Verbs don't answer questions.'
'Don't think that way, Herb.' My diaphragm is crackling. Herb and I have not been together an hour, but there is a strong sense around him that he would like to strangle someone, and not be choosy whose neck he got his hands on. When you have spent so much of your life whamming into people and hurting them, it must be hard just to call a halt to it and sit down. It must be hard to do anything else, it seems to me, but keep on whamming. In any case, I'm always most at ease when I know the way out. There is something to be avoided here, and I intend to avoid it. 'I'm going to try to write a good sory, Herb,' I say, inching toward the back of Smallwood's Checker" (Ford 163).

This passage has a variety of rhetorical devices, and the feel of this part of the novel is fairly consistent with that of the entire book. The first most obvious rhetorical device is the metaphor. At the beginning of the passage, Herb says, "I'm a verb." This metaphor is unique because most people would not compare themselves to verbs in this manner. Right after he uses this metaphor, he follows it up with, "Verbs don't answer questions." I began to ponder the meaning of this comparison, and I became enthralled with the complexity of it. I soon realized that Herb was trying to find a clever way to express his animosity towards the questions that Frank was asking him.

Another aspect of Ford's writing that is evident here is his constant use of dialogue. Most of Frank Bascombe' s stories abound with dialogue. This adds to the liveliness of the stories that Frank Bascombe has to share about his life, and makes them much easier to understand as well. Another stylistic remedy that Ford frequently uses is to interrupt parts of Bascombe's conversations with digressions that deal with human nature. In the middle of his conversation with Herb, Frank Bascombe begins to question Herb's ability to control his temper and not swing his fist. Bascombe's ideas are insightful because the majority of people don't analyze human nature this thoroughly on a daily basis.

Ford's syntax is fairly consistent throughout the novel as well. He uses a combination of short and long sentences to describe the situation. His longer sentences are usually a string of ideas separated by commas. In addition to these long sentences, he uses consecutive short sentences, mainly for emphasis on certain points he wants to make. These points usually express his view on society and human nature. Ford's diction is not particularly complicated; however, the content of the book is rather advanced.