The End Of The Affair Summary

"The End of the Affair" is an article written by P. J. O'Rourke for the audience of like-minded conservatives or readers seeking entertainment in the 2009 weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal. O'Rourke is known for his satire, humor, and candid comments on the affects of the government's influence on society and the influence it has had on him. In this article, he vents on the downfall of automobiles and the bankruptcy of General Motors, blaming liberal environmentalists who seek to ruin the bond men have had over time with cars and the automobile industry as a whole. Contrary to the condescending, modern day analysis placed on automobiles O'Rourke pleads for his readers to have a positive outlook on cars and the contribution they have

had to the egotistical human race; he is highly effective in making his claim through the use of his emotional and sentimental approach in writing.
P.J. O'Rourke introduces his article by setting the background behind the purpose of his essay- "bankrupt General Motors". As he appeals to a sentimental side of the topic, this ordinarily frequent phrase, O'Rourke claims, holds a deeper meaning to those from his generation.

He uses pathos to appeal to emotion by stating that we should turn to melodrama as opposed to economics to solve the answer for the declining industry; this claim reveals the nostalgic approach O'Rourke will be using for the article and sets the stage for the purpose of his essay by luring his audience in to the body of the essay and main point. To start off, financial gurus and politicians scrutinize cars as a business to be analyzed for profit, instead of the symbolic and sentimental value. In his essay, O'Rourke states that "Politicians, journalists financial analysts and other purveyors of banality have been looking at cars as if a convertible were a business" (O'Rourke 1). By stating this, the author builds the base of his opponent's perspective and clearly defines the problem at hand with the two different kinds of controversial thinking. In this pathos approach, O'Rourke inappropriately uses binary thinking to form only two sides of the essay: those who view cars as nothing more than a financial business and those who hold the value of cars in high regard on a sentimental value. Although he uses binary thinking, it proves to be effective in painting a clear picture for the readers to side with

him. In relation to the sentimental side, he describes the new-age way of thinking as a "tragic romance", briefly sharing the history of transportation from horses to cars and enticing the audience to recall the time in society when cars were a luxury that were not yet available to everyone. This recollection supports O'Rourke's claim and plea for sentiment on an approach slightly angled at logos, he uses historical facts to logically display that transportation has progressed and American's have spent many years without the luxury of cars, being limited to horses for their sense of "power". He continues by educating about the backstory of the measurement of energy we call "horsepower" in today's society and its relationship to the car by stating "Insert another 'power' after the horse and the verse was as true in the suburbs of my 1950s boyhood as it was in the Khyber Pass" (O'Rourke 1). This backdrop gives a sense of life to the timeline of automobiles and effectively benefits O'Rourke's main claim and persuasion. He describes horses and horsepower as symbols of status and figure and explains that a man's ego is defined by his horse or ride.

He displays a new angle to cars as an item of prestige and honor to be achieved, effectively supporting his attempt to push relationship into metal versus the liberalistic mentality of a burdensome machine.

He relates cars and horses together by categorizing them as a "cool" sense of transportation and a hero coming to the rescue. This attempts to display a key role he believes cars were built to serve by stating "-and the U.S. cavalry that coolly comes to their rescue plus the proverbially cool-handed 'Man n Horse back' to whom we turn in troubled times" (O'Rourke 2). This type of atmosphere O'Rourke creates is highly effective in persuasiveness due to the author's awareness of his audience and the younger generation's importance of style. His repertoire of elaborate and creative examples benefits O'Rourke's impression he seeks to have on the enthusiastic readers seeking entertainment through his article. He typically seems to stray from ethos, hardly touches on logos, and displays that his goal is not to overturn those with preset, political opinions that are controversial to his own. He seeks, rather, to humor and persuade like-minded conservatives who stand by O'Rourke in the political field. As soon as the automobile became available to the middle class, everyone became a "Sir Lancelot", he imagines, and the car became the object of popularity and sensuality. He continues by explaining the upgraded relief for women from riding side saddle to the prestige of a car with

both legs inside the vehicle. This comment sets up a playing field for O'Rourke to benefit both genders, taking in mind the advantage of addressing the female perspective in his attempt of persuasion. He continues on the aspect of convenience with a more logos perspective; the use of practicality can be seen through some of his examples: the car does not not kick or smell like a horse and is easy to drive. O'Rourke's thought process of writing is very effective through his approach: setting up his examples by comparing transportation through an automobile with a horse.
He switches over to pathos by sharing a personal story of his brother and him sneaking out to cruise the family car. O'Rourke uses the car as the center point for this experience and continues by pointing out that, although they only hit 30 miles per hour, this was the extended limit of speed for a horse. He humors his audience further by portraying a scenario where kids their age attempted to reach that speed while galloping on a horse. This comparison institutes not only a personal example but also an entertaining perspective in an attempt to support his main point.
O'Rourke continues on the timeline of cars and explains how horses became dead to us as we marveled at the construction of the car. This way of writing benefits the author's position in two ways: it adds to the "life story" O'Rourke has created with the automobile's history and it gives the car's features a fresher and more modern appeal, as if the readers were noticing it for the first time.
O'Rourke switches gears and uses logos to report the beginning of the negative aspect cars began to acquire; American's spent their time driving everywhere for errands and living further apart. This report shows that he admits negative practicality had slowly grown in regards to the car and claims that it quickly became a trash bin that we became sick of. He immediately makes his point of view shortly after revealing his opponent's claim by stating that cars were our escape route into freedom. This type of arrangement for O'Rourke proved very persuasive; he stated the disclaimer's view point and then quickly refuted it. The author turns the fact that cars have directionally spaced towns out as a positive chance at freedom. He reverts back to his analogy that cars turns us into knights and adds sentiment to the car for allowing us the possibility to travel.
After adding his last touch of emotional attachment, the author concludes by claiming that we have "lost our love for cars"; we have forgotten their history, just as the liberal environmentalists wanted us to do. He uses pathos to emotionally claim that environmentalists don't actually care about the car's effects on the environment but that they simply want to see the once great industry fall. He gives full credit to American's for the start of the automobile industry; O'Rourke lists manufacturers who went broke for cars in order to generate a sense of pride as an American that we should have. In today's society, he argues, the new generation has no emotional attachment to the automobile; this ending pity party benefits O'Rourke by luring his readers in through regret and remorse. The author was effective in arguing a sentimental claim through the use of sensitivity through attachment, logical reasoning, and a humorous appeal.