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Analysis Of Christopher Hitchens 'Believe Me, Its Torture'

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The Torture of Waterboarding: Brave heroic actions bring awareness to the fact waterboarding is torture.
In Christopher Hitchens “Believe Me, Its Torture”, Hitchens describes his experience with waterboarding to convince society this practice is indeed a torturous punishment. The maltreatment practice of “waterboarding” has been controversial for many years; therefore, in order to convince the audience, the matter is torturous, Christopher Hitchens undergoes this practice not only once but twice. The author uses his personal experience to illustrate the mental, physical and emotional stress he went through during the process. In Christopher Hitchens “Believe Me, Its Torture”, Hitchens uses pathos and logos to persuade society waterboarding …show more content…

Notwithstanding, Hitchens illustrates waterboarding in the story in order to show in depth the pain and details of the process. Hitchens states, “Arms already lost to me, I wasn’t able to flail as I was pushed onto a sloping board and positioned with my head lower than my heart (Hitchens 617).” The author uses this to create an image to the audience of the torture he went through while waterboarding. Hitchens uses imagery in order for the audience to get a realistic feel of the agony and torture that waterboarding really is. Moreover, Hitchens refers to a metaphor by Abraham Lincoln that compares slavery to the treatment of waterboarding “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong (Hitchens 620-621).” Slavery was considered one of the most torturous times in the south resulting in many deaths and injuries inflicted among African Americans as punishment. The author argues that waterboarding is just as torturous as slavery and that if waterboarding is not torture then there is no such thing as torture. Hitchens uses this metaphor to create a comparison between slavery and waterboarding and to support his argument of waterboarding is torture. Throughout the story, Hitchens uses a passionate tone while describing other Americans viewpoints of the practice. In “Believe Me, Its Torture”, Hitchens uses Mr. Malcom Nance as a witness and describes him as a cold-hearted human being. Mr. Nance has played a part in the attacks of al Qaeda since the early 1990s and Hitchens states the many points that Mr. Nance makes to persuade anyone to believe waterboarding is torture. The author brings in special forces to argue that waterboarding is a punishment used for special forces not U.S. citizens. Accordingly, Hitchens demonstrates imagery, metaphors, and tone to persuade the audience waterboarding is indeed

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