Rhetorical devices

Ian McEwan’s article “Only Love and then Oblivion” makes use of several rhetorical devices. Their role is to draw attention to the emotional impact the attacks on September 11, 2001 had on the world, as well as to highlight the importance of empathy and human connections in the face of dehumanizing violence. 

Antithesis 

Antithesis is used in the article towards the end, where the writer contrasts the attitude of the victims with that of the terrorists. In this way, McEwan tries to point out that someone with empathy and the ability to “think oneself in the minds of the others” (p. 129, ll. 15-16) would not have been able to commit such acts. The writer contrasts the victims’ desire to remain connected to their loved ones even in their final moments with the “dehumanizing hatred” (p. 129, l.35) of the hijackers. In this way, the victims unknowingly defied their attackers – and implicitly offered hope for the survivors and witnesses.

This contrast between the victims and the attackers is also used in the sentence “Love was all they had to set against the hatred of their murderer...