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Karli Neil
Professor Foland
ENGL 111
6 October 2016
Rhetorical Analysis of "When a Child Goes to War"
The Aeon Magazine article "When a Child Goes to War" was written by Malcolm Harris
in an effort to convince others that the media controls the social acceptability of children being
used as soldiers, both in history and the present. Harris utilizes many devices of the strategies of
ethos, logos, and pathos, the most used being pathos. By using these strategies, Harris presents
his arguments in a convincing manner, forcing readers to think about the topic instead of blindly
accepting what they have been told.
The first strategy used is ethos, which is employed before the article even begins. To the
side of the first paragraph, Harris identifies his position and employer as "a writer and editor at
The New Inquiry" (Harris, "When a Child Goes to War"). By stating this at the start, he is
identifying himself as being a reliable source, as this indicates he has not only made a career of
writing, but also of reviewing and correcting others' writing. He can be trusted to be as forthright
and credible as possible with his own writing. Another way this is indicative of his integrity is
that The New Inquiry is an online magazine that charges for subscriptions. This shows that many
people are willing to pay to read the articles published within the magazine.
Harris further engages in ethos by referencing the current efforts being made to stop
children from being used in wars. "International law organisations didnt take up the issue until

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the close of the 20th century and, even then, they did so in a cautious and patchwork manner"
(Harris, "When a Child Goes to War"). By referencing the recent attention to child soldiers, as
compared to past interest, Harris is exploiting the fact that he has done research on current and
past efforts. He continues to demonstrate his efforts in researching the topic by addressing
historical figures that were in their teen years or younger, such as Joan of Arc and Alexander the
Great.
Harris does not stop with ethos; he continues to convince his audience of his point by
using logos as well in the above mentioned device of referring to historical figures. While Joan
of Arc and Alexander the Great are well known in history, lesser known figures are also
mentioned. One of these figures is Claudette Colvin who refused to give up her bus seat nearly a
year before the well-known Rosa Parks. By pointing this out, Harris demonstrates that the media
picks and chooses who it deems fit to be widely publicized. Colvin was pushed to the
background because she was a teenager. By pointing this out, Harris demonstrates that what the
media is doing is depicting that logically a child either has a voice or does not, a child either feels
and reacts or does not. A child fighting and leading an army should not be considered any
differently a child fighting for civil rights in a peaceful manner, and yet the media has chosen
who gets acknowledged and who melts into the past silently.
The most prominent use of logos is when Harris references the widely received movies
Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. Harry Potter is a fictional story about a child who learns
he is a wizard and must face an evil nemesis, while The Hunger Games is about a teenager
forced into a battle for her life to save her little sister. Harris explains that in both movies, the
child is not portrayed as a "victim" but instead as a person with real feelings and thoughts. He

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compares this ideology in the movies to that of the real life, where children are not seen as
having a choice in the matter.
Meanwhile, the aid worlds portrayal of pre-demobilisation child soldiers presents
them as one-dimensional, not culpable for their actions because of coercion or
brainwashing. This flat image serves the interests of aid organisations and the UN
General Assembly, but it requires us to ignore the voices of the children
themselves. (Harris, "When a Child Goes to War")
By stating this contrast so bluntly, the reader is forced to compare fiction to real life events, and
how differently they are viewed and accepted. The reader has no choice but to realize that
logically, these fictional scenarios should be viewed with the same level of contempt as the real
life scenarios despite the media's efforts to pick and choose what is and is not accepted.
Finally, Harris puts the strategy of pathos into effect. The article is riddled with many
examples of pathos, one of which is the author pointing out that the media uses pathos on the
audience! "But what it lacks in history, the child soldier makes up for with dramatic pathos"
(Harris, "When a Child Goes to War"). By pointing out this use of pathos, Harris causes the
audience to become defensive, as most people do not like to be told they are being used. Once
defensive, the readers are more apt to be persuaded to the author's point of view because they
will want to defer from being tricked into an opinion.
Another example of the pathos being used in "When a Child Goes to War" is when Harris
gives reasons why a child might voluntarily choose to become a soldier. He explains the media
uses an exaggeration of the choice being made, and he breaks down why that choice is not as
simple as the media portrays it to be.

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In the posters, black-and-white photos of the child soldiers unsmiling faces are overlaid
on full-colour photos of their bodies engaged in more age-appropriate pastimes. Beside
the picture of a girl, the text reads: She wants to be a dancer, not a child soldier. A boy
wants to play cricket. (Harris, "When a Child Goes to War")
Following the above quote, Harris examines what could cause a child to volunteer. Typically
within these military units, there are very strict rules and regulations. These guidelines are in
place to maintain structure and physical fitness, but they also keep the children safer from being
sexually, or otherwise, attacked. "But when the choice is soldier or victim, voluntarism takes
on a different meaning" (Harris, "When a Child Goes to War"). This touches the readers' feelings
as it forces them to place themselves in the child's shoes for a moment to consider what choice
they would make if they were the ones in that situation.
Harris presents his argument in "When a Child Goes to War" by using different devices
with each of the three persuasion strategies, ethos, logos, and pathos. Within each strategy, he
utilizes multiple devices to demonstrate his reasons for his opinion. Harris touches on both sides
of the subject in his article, and by doing this he gives the reader the opportunity to see the other
side, regardless of their current opinion. The article clearly depicts the author's opinion, and
successfully presents it in a manner that causes the reader to reject the standard opinion and
research the topic of "child soldiers" to form their own personal opinion.

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Works Cited
Harris, Malcolm. "When a Child Goes to War." Aeon Magazine, 1 June 2015.
aeon.co/essays/is-the-child-soldier_anything-more-than-a-tragic-victim. Accessed 14
September 2016.