TOW #1 "Graven Images" by Saul Bellow (Written Text)

Saul Bellow's essay, "Graven Images" introduces an interesting perspective on the idea of the power of photographers and the role media has in the present-day's society. As a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts, Bellow explains to his audience, the people of any age who are interested in media or care about their public appearance, the influence that photographers have on the public portrayal of anyone and everyone. He touches on how a photographer can manipulate a person’s image for their own social or political interests, and that they are the ones who ultimately decide how the public with view and interpret different people and events. He also includes that some photographers will draw out a person’s weaknesses instead of their strengths, and how the media will often invade private details to share and warp the truth.

Bellow utilizes logos in his essay to convey his point. Right from the start, he references former US president Harry S. Truman on the topic. The author wrote, “Harry S. Truman liked to say that as a president of this country he was its most powerful citizen—but sometimes he added, smiling, the photographers were even more powerful” (Bellow 564). This draws interest from the reader as well due to the quote coming directly from a president, and that sort of credibility makes the reasoning of Bellow’s argument that much more convincing.

As another rhetorical device, Bellow also used the phrase Amour propre often in his essay. The term is a French philosophical concept created by Jean-Jacques Rousseau that one’s self-esteem and worth depends on the opinion of others. He was able to emphasize his argument this way by connecting this concept to his writing. For example, he wrote “Amour propre, with all its hypocritical tricks, is the product of your bourgeois outlook. Your aim is to gain general acceptance for your false self” (Bellow 565). Bellow connects this to his argument with the idea that the people conceal their true selves for a positive public response through the photographs we take. The reader is able to understand this with further implications of how humans naturally desire outside approval in order to feel happy with themselves.

By efficiently using these devices in his writing, Saul Bellow successfully establishes his stance on how powerful a photographer’s influence is in the media, and how much they can alter the political and social views of their audience.