Rhetorical Analysis Of The Refugee King Of Greece

In her article, “The Refugee King of Greece”, Ashley Gilbertson discusses the refugee crisis that is currently plaguing Greece. Gilbertson utilizes an array of interviews and quotes from various refugees with backgrounds of all kinds in order to allow the reader to more accurately visualize the epidemic of human rights violations that are presently taking place in Greece. Refugees from Syria and Nigeria have come from their war-torn countries in search of salvation, however, what they come to find is a land of limbo. Determined to flee their countries for a better life, many come to Greece as the halfway point before entering other parts of Europe or Germany. Sadly, this practice has ended recently after the European and German governments

Gilbertson’s techniques are extremely successful in demonstrating to the reader the harsh realities faced by innocent refugees and why the Greek government should be made to change their laws preventing these refugees from leaving their camp-like prisons. The abundant amount of emotional stories provided by authentic first-hand experiences supplies the reader with a strong sense of pity in what they are reading and work effectively with credibility and logic to further convince the audience towards Gilbertson 's demands for Greek law amendments. The portion containing the distinct breaking of the law by security officials in an attempt to help the refugees escape their camps is an excellent way of saying to the reader “if they can, why can’t you?” If any weaknesses were present in Gilbertson’s article, it would have to be her lack of clarity to the reader in regards to the link the reader would be making logically between what they were hearing and what exactly would need to be done about it. To elaborate, Gilbertson uses the disgusted feeling the reader experiences and eventually realizes to be from viewing what could be compared to torture, as a means to have the audience understand why these are human rights violations and why the Greek government should be responsible in allowed them a safe passage to safety. This is not a concrete correlation though as different people may come to alternate conclusions such as believing that although this is unfortunate, it may not be their problem, or it may not be similar to torture and is instead just a series of unlucky events that may eventually pass. This feeling of disgust and mental link to torture by the reader is a strong possibility, but is no guarantee. Aside from this, Gilbertson effectively evokes a painful series of images in the minds of the audience, and successfully convinces them of the abundant