Barbara Ehrenreich's Use Of Ethos In Nickel And Dimed

The Rhetorical Triangle states that writing should incorporate ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is establishing credibility, pathos is showing emotion in the writing, and logos is stating logical facts. In “Shooting an Elephant” written by George Orwell and “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich powerful messages are conveyed. However, “Shooting an Elephant” is comprised of ethos and pathos. While Orwell’s writing lacks logos “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich includes ethos, pathos, and logos. Therefore, while both conveying powerful messages Ehrenreich’s writing includes all three aspects of The Rhetorical Tringle while, Orwell’s writing lacks logos but includes the emotion and credibility.

In “Shooting an Elephant” George Orwell is the officer of the town in the time period of Imperialism. In the beginning of the story Orwell shows the readers that despite him being an officer, he didn’t have much credibility. Orwell states, “When a nimble Burman tripped me up on the football field and the referee looked the other way, the crowd yelled with hideous laughter.” (p. 229.) Orwell also describes further the hate the people had for him in the town and mentions that the people continuously treated him in a disrespectful manner. Throughout the story it is reported to Orwell

that an elephant owned by an Indian is going on a rampage and has killed a “coolie” which was another term for an Indian. When Orwell gets word of this and goes to take action while bringing a small riffle with only five bullets Orwell has no intent of killing the elephant.
However, when Orwell approaches the elephant he notices a crowd of people waiting for him to kill the elephant. Orwell states, “They did not like me, but with the magical riffle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching. And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all.” (p.232.) this quote is powerful and perhaps the most meaningful from this story, Orwell is showing pathos in this particular quote. He felt inferior and disrespect previously but now that the people of the town are showing him recognition he feels pressure. Orwell’s emotions get the best of him at this particular moment. He obviously does not want to shoot the elephant however to save face and not disappoint the town, he shoots the elephant multiple times.
Also, Orwell’s emotions are brought to the surface towards the end of the story when the story states “afterwards I was very glad that the coolie had been killed, it put me legally in the right and it gave me a sufficient pretext for shooting the elephant.” (Orwell p. 234). Emotion is evident in this statement because, Orwell is trying to clear his conscience by rationalizing his actions despite the feeling of guilt he possesses. After shooting the elephant ethos which is Orwell’s credibility is established to the people of the town. Before, the act of shooting the elephant Orwell wasn’t respected as an officer or a person. By shooting the elephant Orwell feels he’s proved himself to the people of the town, the people now respect him more as a reliable officer of the people. Despite Orwell bringing emotion to the surface and establishing credibility in the town, the logical aspect is lacking in the story. Orwell allowed people to pressure him into doing something he didn’t necessarily agree with. This is not logical because, now despite how the town feels Orwell is the individual who has to suffer from his own guilt. Orwell should have thought the situation out thoroughly and handle it as fair and suitable as possible.
Orwell’s writing doesn’t include as much logos as it does pathos or ethos yet it does covey a powerful message. This story is very relatable even in the present and to today’s society in the sense of being pressure. Being pressured is a big factor in society, Orwell did something to impress the people he was surrounded by. Similarly people go along with the crowd to avoid feeling inferior or like they don’t belong. Society such as Orwell all want to be respected and well liked so regardless of knowing something isn’t right or not necessarily agreeing with the idea, people will go along with it just to feel a sense of belonging.
In “Nickel and Dimed” Barbara Ehrenreich is a reporter doing research on getting by in America.

She puts herself in the mindset of many women in her position by getting a job as a waitress, getting a small apartment, and working minimum wage to get by day to day. Ehrenreich’s states, her main goal is “to lift poor women out of poverty as well as raise their self-esteem.” (p. 224.) This is a powerful statement Ehrenreich makes because she is not doing this for the sake of experimenting she honestly wants to make a difference in American women lives. The story shows Ehrenreich’s experience as working as minimum waitress in Hearthside as well as describing her coworkers and their

experiences.
Ehrenreich works with a boss who revokes privilege’s and changes anything he feels fit at that time. Ehrenreich also describes the working conditions and scenery she describes Jack as the man with the temper in the working place and has tantrums. Gail is the woman who trains her in the workforce despite her personal life and struggles she still maintains to be kind. As well, as describing her coworkers she talks about the people who come into the Hearthside. She emphasized that the customers all have different jobs and come in around the clock. Ehrenreich describes the horrible working conditions her and her fellow coworker’s endure she states “the break room is disgusting. Butts in the ashtrays, newspapers laying around, crumbs.” (p. 251.)
In addition to the horrible working conditions sexism was also an issue in the workforce. Ehrenreich and her coworker express the condition of the ladies room and the issue isn’t resolved and completely ignored. Ehrenreich refers to housing as “the principal source of disruption” in her coworkers lives.” (p. 252.) The women in the workforce worked harder than most of the man every day to live in unfortunate situations. Ehrenreich describes most of the women having children and families while living in roommates, hotels, and even their own cars. While the men also struggled some of the male coworkers had consistent pay and better living spaces such as apartments and trailers. For high class Americans this wouldn’t be the ideal place to live however, these minimum wage workers were content with having a place to rest their heads.
Ehrenreich’s writing includes ethos, pathos, and logos for various reasons. Pathos is incorporated in the story by showing her coworkers everyday lives and describing their behaviors. Emotion was present in this story through the workers, Ehrenreich went into detail about the workers frustrations and struggles which is what makes the story relatable to the readers. Ethos is the most impactful portion of Ehrenreich’s writing through this story she established her credibility in a great impactful way. Establishing credibility is the most important factor about being a reporter for a journal.
As a researcher Ehrenreich took the behind-the-scenes approach which was very intellectual of her. She states facts that she experienced and witnessed herself, not things that she’s heard from others. Logos is evident in “Nickel and Dimed” Ehrenreich’s occupation requires a logical person to fulfill that position, which shows her intelligence. Besides that fact her idea to dive in to a whole new world and get as involved as she did in her work is logical because, she was able to present relatable facts. Also, Ehrenreich helped the readers understand and finish reading with a whole new outlook on working in America with the knowledge and examples she presented.
As previously stated, Ehrenreich also provided a relatable powerful message as well. This relates to society as well as Orwell did in his writing. Americans in society today struggle from day to day to support their families and themselves which is not an easy task. Especially with today’s economy most people work more than one job to survive and support themselves. Minimum wage jobs still exist today and people still work for low wages and long hours. Also, relatable to today sexism still exist in the workforce and it remains that women aren’t looked at as equal in certain work fields.
Therefore, Orwell and Ehrenreich both have messages in their writing that will be relatable to people in the present and future. Orwell conveys the message of being pressured into doing something. Which still is recognizable to today’s youth and no matter your background or situation, it is a position every person has been in before. In relation Ehrenreich writing also contains the relatable factor of working hard in America to be successful. Even individuals who aren’t American can relate to having to work hard to be successful. Portions of The Rhetorical Triangle are incorporated in “Shooting an Elephant” and “Nickel and Dimed” however, Orwell lacked logos for not making his decision based on fairness and logic. While Ehrenreich had a logical plan as well as including emotion and credibility, with factual information that she experienced personally.