TOW #17 "Let's Die Together" (written)

In David Samuel’s essay, Let’s Die Together, he addresses the topic of the rising popularity of group suicides in Japan during the early 2000s. Samuel uses specific dates, statistics, and instances in which these events have taken place. The narrator even noticed a pattern in the reports. “The victims meet online, using anonymous screen names, and then take sleeping pills and use briquettes, charcoal burners, and tape to turn a car or van into a mobile gas chamber.” The narrator does keep the tone fairly neutral and stays informative. He doesn’t use much expressively emotion-driven language throughout the essay, giving it a rather objective feel and mood. The text seems almost like a report of the events to superior rather than an essay written for a general audience due to the author’s diction and phrasing patterns. Though, something that benefits average readers would be that he does give background information, an example being the mention of seppuku, the Japanese ritualistic suicide practice, as a possible explanation for why this group suicide trend has been so popular in Japan. He also talks about how difficult it is to pursue these situations since suicide is not a crime. Many of these group suicides have only been noted through minor reports due to them not being against any laws. All in all, the essay is mainly formally written and informative about the topic.