Rhetorical Devices In Men Have Forgotten God By Solzhenitsyn

Solzhenitsyn’s work, “Men Have Forgotten God” was and is a harbinger of the state of the world. It revealed the travesties happening in Russia and around the world in his time, but still holds true in our modern world. His writing set the tone for breaking out of the chains of evil around the world, that many had sat in since before World War One. In writing such an important work, Solzhenitsyn had to use all of the rhetorical devices to create the most trustworthy work he could possibly make. The devices he uses in this work include Amplification, Cause and Effect, and Aristotelian Appeals.

The most obvious device he uses is Aristotelian Appeals; he starts by connecting himself to the audience, or pathos. Solzhenitsyn connects himself to the

He once again connects himself to the audience by telling about the things he has lived through, like world wars, revolutions. He also speaks specifically to Russians by telling them he has lived through the same tragedies as they have. Once he fully connected to his audience, he began to attempt to sway them. He speaks on the state of the world, and says “Today' s world has reached a stage which, if it had been described to preceding centuries, would have called forth the cry: "This is the Apocalypse!"(Solzhenitsyn 146) Which accurately describe the emotion of the time. Many people, especially in the Soviet Union, were scared for their way of life. If communism reached its full potential, and the rest of the world began to forget God, many would lose their way of life, and Solzhenitsyn used this feeling to draw this

Fear of communism had been steadily growing in the west; many feared there would be an attempted invasion. He related to the people’s fears by speaking on this same issue. Everyone was worried about this same thing, and this is where he gathered a worldwide following. Solzhenitsyn had shown the evils of communism, and gave many a cause to fight against it.

To solidify the need for action in the people’s minds, however, Solzhenitsyn next had to go beyond emotions. He had to prove that this was happening to the people. He gave many examples, ranging from speaking on the evil mentality of the world leaders at the time, and how they were purposefully moving away from God. He talked about the evil of the atomic bomb, and how a mass taking of life was one of the most influential moments in history. It showed a loss of sanctity of life. Once again, he wrote on the evils in the church, and how even they, the most sacred of all institutions, were slowly moving away from true belief and were becoming more of a club. But to rally the support of the church, he also pointed out the many ideologies that were beginning to attack and degrade the