Baylor Rich

Justin Duckwitz

ENGL 1010

6 April 2020

Justice for the innocent: A Rhetorical Analysis

How to Hit your Dad is an eye-opening article dealing with child abuse and what different forms

it can take. The Article was published by writer Brian Doyle in October of 2014 and has been an

influence to readers ever since. Doyle wrote this article mainly for those who may have

previously struggle with child abuse or currently struggle with it to give hope and comfort. Even

for those who have not struggled with abuse, this article serves as a warning and a guide on how

to nurture and love a child as they are, and to not be afraid of being a parent and taking on the

many challenges you may face.

The article explicitly tells of a friend of the author who recounts his experiences as a

child with his father. The narrator accurately describes his father’s ignorant actions as he would

treat him and his siblings, as well as this young boy’s reactions to his father. As the narrator

takes the role of the oldest of his siblings, he acts as the protector and leader of them and his

experiences of sacrificing his body as a punching bag of sorts to protect his siblings. The story is

written in the fist person view, which adds a sense of dramatic relativity to the reader. The

ending of this story provides a heartfelt reassurance for the reader. A strong recurring theme of

this piece is that good hearts will always receive a good reward in the end. Doyle uses multiple

rhetorical questions, diction and perspective change to appeal to a sense of reason.

 One of Doyle’s biggest attributes in his writing of this article is his sense to make the

material relate to the reader on multiple levels, even if the reader has never experienced the same

events as the narrator. Doyle is in part able to do this through his use of rhetorical questions. In

multiple instances, he inserts the phrase “you know what I mean?” or “you know?” these appeal

to the readers sense of reason because by asking these questions in this specific context he is

asking you to relate with him by acknowledging that yes, indeed you know what he means.

Though the actions he speaks about of his dad are inhumane, you feel inclined to answer “yes” to

these rhetorical questions to keep interest and help the story continue.

The timing of these rhetorical questions is also very important. The questions pose an

obvious answer and are used for effect. When Doyle uses these questions, he asks them only

after noting something negative the narrators father did. For example, “I learned defense, how to

huddle, how to protect my face, how to lean back or sideways at the right time to reduce the

blow, you know?” projects a question that not every reader will know. By asking the question

after the statement you want to say yes, even if you have no idea what its like to protect your

body from the harmful blows from your own father. It’s Just like if I told someone who was the

only child in their family, “ugh I get so angry every time my siblings come in my room without

asking, you know?” they would most likely respond with “yeah” or “uh huh” but in reality they

wouldn’t know, but would agree anyway because my question involves them and their opinion.

Of the many articles I have read, Doyle’s use of diction in How to Hit Your Dad is one of

the greatest. He is king of using short, powerful statements. “He just was.” Is a great example of

his unique use of words to show the reader that this character really did not know everything

about his father. In fact, he knew almost nothing about his dad. Even though he had little
knowledge about his life, he literally rolled with the punches. He never asked his father why, he

just reacted to a bad action. This is clearly shown in the small statement of “he just was.”

Another great moment of the authors use of diction is the very last word written in this

story. The bold statement of “almost” tells a handful of things to the reader which may also leave

the reader with different questions. We know this friend had unresolved feelings towards his

father. He never had a chance to learn of his reasons for abuse. He was never able to experience

closure with his father and get the full picture. By using the phrase “almost” Doyle projects an

image of the narrator to the reader. If he had left that phrase out of the story, it would have

changed the whole reputation of the narrator. As a reader, it gives you a picture that although the

narrator never spoke harshly of his father, he still had hard feelings for him, or he would have

shown otherwise. Doyle’s sense of diction appeals to the sense of logic and emotion because of

his short and powerful statements which create words for the reader to understand without

reading them.

Brian Doyle appeals to the readers sense of reason through sharing possibilities of the

other characters point of view. From the reader trying to put themselves into the place of the

narrator’s father, they see into the possibilities of why he would abuse his son. “I used to wonder

if his problem was that he didn’t want to have kids and I was living proof that he did have kids.”

This sentence puts the reader into the narrator’s shoes looking inward on his dad. Through this,

the reader gets an understanding of the son’s views on his dad. He never wondered what he did

wrong, because he was a bright young man and knew he was innocent. But the son knew his

father had a problem.

Doyle appeals to the sense of logic and reason in this short story by using unique

rhetorical questions, through distinct diction and putting the reader into the narrator’s shoes by
shifting perspective. All these rhetorical devices come together to help the reader reason with the

narrator and make this story relative to anyone who misunderstands another human being. Those

who seek to do good will be good people and receive their reward, no matter the circumstance.

Even if you are a person who has not been affected by abuse, the reader is able to relate to

Doyle’s story because of his way to teach this important lesson through his writing style. Judging

this story by the title may give off wrong impressions. What I thought would be a dark, dramatic

story of abuse was revealed to be an optimistic, hopeful piece on getting through hard times and

being ourselves.

Works cited

Doyle, Brian. “How To Hit Your Dad.” The Sun Magazine, Oct. 2014,

www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/466/how-to-hit-your-dad.