The Libido for the Ugly Rhetorical Analysis H.L. Mencken was a satirist critique of American culture and wrote descriptive essays and books to justify his position. In The Libido for the Ugly, Mencken employs imagery of decay and utilizes persuasive hyperboles to ridicule industrial Pennsylvania. Mencken is disgusted by the industrial area that stretches from East Liberty to Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He associates the laborious manufacturing buildings with diction of death and decay. Mencken states in his opening paragraph “… and here were human habitations so abominable that they would have disgraced a race of alley cats.” Mencken profoundly believes that even homeless cats will reject the idea of living in industrial Pennsylvania. Greensburg is merely too filthy to even occupy homeless cats. The city of Greensburg is decayed enough to not even be able to support malnourished cats. Mencken continues to warrant his stance on industrial Pennsylvania by asserting “… abominable houses cover huge cover the bare hillsides, like gravestones in some agnatic and decaying cemetery.” Mencken compares an unsightly city to a cemetery to prove the city’s image of …show more content…
Mencken insists, “…they have the most loathsome towns and villages ever seen by mortal eye.” The casual American considers Pennsylvania as a successful state and would appreciate its’ industrial value. To the contrary, Mencken is quick to judge the state because of its appearance and exaggerates his viewpoint. Mencken continues to argue, “It is as if some titanic and aberrant genius, uncompromisingly inimical to man, had devoted all the ingenuity of Hell to the making of them.” Although the reader can comprehend that hyperboles are not meant to be taken literally, the reader is still convinced by the author’s dreadful view of the town. Mencken’s constant use of hyperboles evokes a strong feeling of disgust and creates a lasting