TOW #4: IRB Post

Through the first half of the book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger, who is also a writer of many magazines such as American Heritage, The New York Times, Outside, and Men’s Journal, Junger tells the story of a six-man swordfishing crew who goes out to sea in search of business.  A fisherman’s tale one might say; however, this tale in itself is one meant to entertain those who seek a thrilling non-fiction story, not simply those who enjoy the world of fishing.  While it is a valid argument as to why Junger writes this book in order to entertain those who have a divine interest in fishing, it is clear through Junger’s usage of rhetorical devices that Junger is trying to make an attempt at touching on the interests of many rather than the interests of one group in particular.  One usage of imagery that stood out in particularly is “Dawn at sea, a grey void emerging out of a vaster black one. ‘The earth was without form and darkness was upon the face of the deep.’  Whoever wrote that knew the sea- knew the pale emergence of the world every morning, a world that contained absolutely nothing, not one thing” (Junger 54).  Within Junger’s usage of both vivid imagery and rhetorical imagery, I believe that Junger manages to create a stronger appeal in his book to people interested in the genre of action and adventure.  Through this, Junger proves that his purpose in writing this book is not to inform people on an ironically-called perfect storm or to tell a story that is meant to entertain other fisherman on a swordfishing trip out to sea: it is meant to tell the adventurous and thrilling story of the crew of the Andrea Gail.  While the climax of the story is not truly reached in the first half of The Perfect Storm, it most definitely manages to hook on an audience that may not have been present if it were not for Sebastian Junger’s powerful usage of rhetorical devices.