Rhetorical Analysis Of 'The Grieving Never Ends'

Thoughts in regards to suicide often include empathy for the dead, and wonder as to what drove the person to end their life. All too often, people ignore a rather important consideration: the thoughts and feelings of those left behind. The loved ones are left with the remorse, despondence, and grieving, while the dead are absolved of their worldly anguish. In “The Grieving Never Ends”, Roxanne Roberts employs a variety of rhetorical tactics including metaphors, imagery, tone, and syntax to illustrate the indelible effects of suicide on the surviving loved ones.
Roberts effectively uses metaphors to express the complex, abstract concepts around suicide and human emotion in general. The article opens with the description of cleaning up the remains of her father. Later, in the seventh paragraph, Roberts applies the same the idea of cleaning up metaphorically, and uses it to describe the permanency of her father’s suicide in her life.

Throughout the entire piece, Roberts is constantly shifting between abrupt, staccato sentences juxtaposed with long, rhapsodic paragraphs. This displays a frantic manner of thought, and in some cases, isolates key sections. For example, in paragraph thirty-one, Roberts simply writes “Except it isn’t.” (31). These words stand alone, and they serve to explain how suicide is only final for the person who dies, and seems to go on for all others involved. Separating these words makes the thought feel more definite and direct, and therefore more emphatic. Also, in paragraph thirty-three, Roberts writes several short sentences in succession to one another, and all of them seem to answer the standard questions the police would ask at the scene of a suicide. “Yes, he was depressed. Yes, he had threatened suicide. No, there was no note.” (33). This excerpt shows Robert’s extreme numbness and emotional emptiness in the matter; she is just going through the motions, cold and