The Walls Are Talking Analysis

The Walls Are Talking. It’s an intriguing title and an even more intriguing story. The book, written by former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson, claims to give readers a glimpse of what truly goes on inside the walls of abortion clinics. As a result, the ad for The Walls Are Talking strongly appeals to ethos and pathos, which makes it incredibly powerful and compelling. I know, because I am the target audience.
Abby Johnson ran the ad for The Walls Are Talking in National Review, which is a magazine that is fairly conservative—the mission statement of the magazine itself references it as “a conservative weekly journal” (“The Mission Statement”). The upcoming issue of the magazine sports a cover with a cartoon drawing of Hillary Clinton
First and foremost, the ad addresses the author’s credibility in a short biography down below the synopsis of the book. Abby Johnson, whose name is in a bright red font to draw the audience’s eyes to it, is a prolife advocate, but she is quite familiar with abortion clinics and what goes on in them because she used to run one (The Walls Are Talking). Though the stories in the book are not hers, she would certainly have a good idea of whether or not they were true because of her time and experience at Planned Parenthood. The actual chapters of the book, however, were written by abortion clinic workers who, like Abby Johnson, left their clinics. The cover of the book pictured in the ad at first glance looks strange and completely irrelevant to the topic of the book—after all, what does a fly have to do with abortion? However, there is an underlying message in the cover that helps establish the book’s ethos. Through this book, the audience can be “flies on the wall”—they can get a firsthand “look” at what truly goes on inside abortion clinics. The background of the ad furthers that message, as it is designed to look like the inside of a cold, bare exam room. Finally, this ad appeals to ethos and establishes its credibility through four other pro-life advocates’ comments, including David Bereit and Ramona Treviño. David Bereit is another well-known pro-life advocate who is the current CEO of 40 Days for
It is weakest in its appeal to logos, but incredibly strong in its appeal to ethos and even stronger in its appeal to pathos. As a result, this ad a very powerful one, because it reminds readers of the unjust, evil nature of abortion and, along with the credibility of the book's authors and supporters, compels them to read the book. It resonates strongly with conservative readers, because as Senator Ted Cruz said, “no right is more precious and fundamental than the right to life, and any just society should protect that right at every