Rhetorical Analysis Of Star Wars By Jonathon Lethem

The purpose of this confession written by Jonathon Lethem was to alleviate an inner turmoil that he had been struggling with for years now. This essay expands upon why his obsession with the “Star Wars” series during the time where in which his mother was suffering from a mental illness and before his awkward teenage years turned into an escape from reality. Lethem’s pride in the accomplishment of watching the series 21 times seems to be masked buy his own shame, but it was obvious that he views this experience as one of the most self-defining experiences of his life. The audience is left with a loving connection for the author as well as a sense of understanding and sympathy for his losses. At the end of his essay, he ends up describing himself as “the kid who partly invented himself in the vacuum collision of Star Wars - and real loss.”
Lethem appeals to Logos throughout the whole article, as he gives reason to his obsession, and describes the logic behind his thinking. He begins by stating that being thirteen, he was “likely as ideal an audience member as any mogul could have drooled for.” He admitted that he does not really remember his first time seeing the movie, despite recalling that

Through these emotions, it allows the reader to become more empathic to Lethem. For example, when Lethem admits his “howling confession” and states that “no high-lit reference is going to bail me out here”, the reader immediately feels the emotion in this experience for him. Even the theater in which he saw “Star Wars” is sentimental to him, being the first movie he had ever seen in that theater, as well as the only theater he has ever seen it in. However, the biggest appeal to Pathos would have to be the events in life in which he was hiding from. His mother’s brain tumor, which had required two surgeries and eventually took her life, was a very significant