Analysis Of Living Simply In A Dumpster

With the advancement of modern medicine following the second world war came an exponential increase in the world’s population. With this staggering growth came an accelerated use of resources, which are not being replaced. This has led to the rise of environmentalism, a movement based on using less, in an effort to better protect the earth. James Hamblin, a senior editor and journalist for the Atlantic, is a proponent of this movement. In his article, “Living Simply in a Dumpster,” Hamblin highlights the ideas and motives behind Jeff Wilson’s, a college dean and professor, choice to live in a dumpster. Through adequate details in the exposition that sets up an appeal in Ethos, interesting humor that keeps the reader hooked with Bathos, and anecdotal evidence creating Logos, Hamblin is able to achieve his goal of advocating a policy of minimalist environmentalism, in a seemingly deleterious Anthropocene age. …show more content…
Hamblin explains that Wilson is not some homeless person from the streets of Houston; he is a college dean. This projected persona of a dean requiring a great deal of intellect grants credibility to the story. When talking about why Wilson is commandeering a dumpster, a multitude of reasons are given, saying that they were, “… a tapestry of these things” (Hamblin). He goes into extreme detail of the dumpster and the most basic qualities that make it the slightest bit amiable, saying, “it is starting to rain right now, and my roof’s open on the dumpster” (Hamblin), creating a sense of the real and ever-present self-deprivation Wilson has toward this project. If Hamblin wanted to authenticate his views toward minimalism, he would need to add verisimilitude to his views, through the actions and words of someone with more credibility and jurisdiction than he, such as a college