Burroughs’ style is full of rhetorical devices such as figurative language, humor, and forthright diction. One device that he uses often is imagery. He portrays the horror of his youth through rich descriptions of everything from the distressed state of a house to certain erratic characters. One example of this is when Augusten first enters the home of the Finches, the chaotic and often manic family who he was forced to live with and adjust to. “The house smelled like wet dog and something else. Fried eggs? And it was such a mess…I saw more fur. There was fur everywhere, streaking across the carpet, gathered in thick balls in the corners against the wall,” (page 41). He also goes on to describe two of the Finch daughters by saying, “They both had long, greasy, …show more content…
Finch decides to display his feces in the hope that it will bring the family luck, “’See?’ Finch bellowed, pointing into the bowl at his bowel movement. ‘Look at the size of that coil!’” This combination of brazen behavior and dialogue engenders feelings of shock and disbelief in readers. Another device that Burroughs uses often is irony, and a prime example of both irony and bluntness in Running with Scissors is the relationship between Augusten and the Finches’ thirty-three year old adopted son, Neil Bookman. When Augusten reveals to him that he, like Bookman, is gay, Bookman responds, “And don’t ever worry…I will never take advantage of you,” (75). And yet, soon after that, Bookman and a prepubescent Burroughs begin a “relationship” which is not viewed as inappropriate by Augusten, Bookman, the Finches, or even Augusten’s mother. Burroughs himself describes the abuse by saying, “I was nearly fifteen, Bookman was thirty-four and we were in the midst of our tumultuous love affair,” (239). To a degree, Augusten recognizes that the relationship is unhealthy, but not because of the age