In The Devil Baby at Hull-House, Jane
Addams recounts stories from people who had interest in meeting the infant. She
noticed a pattern with them. Each person had experienced some sort of hardship
that had some relation to tragedy, sin or crime. No matter what they believed or
did not believe, people were drawn to it. Addams herself stayed at the Hull-House
and heard everything from theories to experiences of others. All kinds of people
were talking about it. Religious or not, a baby born with horns, hooves, and a
tail is not ordinary. Though, Addams does not elaborate on any medical or
scientific reasoning. Her purpose was more to illuminate the connection she
found with why people came to the Hull-House and demanded to see the Devil
Baby. Including other peoples’ anecdotes builds upon the logic of the passage,
as well as appealing to the reader’s emotions. Hearing about a woman who had
lost all of her children except two, only to have both killed in one accident
is a tragic tale. The ethos is questionable since about all of what is known
about the Devil Baby was passed along by word of mouth. The author does make
this clear as well. She shares multiple versions of how people say the infant
came to be. Addams does succeed in clarifying the link between peoples’ pasts
and their desire to see this cursed child. The use of relevant stories and a
suitable reference to another author’s work assist the reader in understanding her
perspective on what is interesting about the Devil Baby—besides the obvious. Though
the pathos and logos were exceptional, the ethos could have been better in some
aspects. Yes, it was all being told from the author’s own experience, but the
other peoples’ stories did not reach us on a first or second hand incident. For
them, one would just need to trust in another individual’s words.
Image of the "Devil Baby"
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