Henry Rollins’ Rhetoric of Atonement

Abstract

In response to Robin Williams’ death, outspoken punk rocker Henry Rollins published an LA Weekly column about his disdain for people who commit suicide. His comments about depression were immediately condemned as ignorant and hurtful. In an effort to make amends for his offensive remarks, Rollins delivered an apology that featured all three elements of the rhetoric of atonement: repentance, prayer, and charity. Analysis of Rollins’ discourse suggests important implications for the literature surrounding apologetic discourse. This essay questions whether rhetors must explicitly ask for public forgiveness in order to demonstrate repentance and highlights the language of service as a meaningful element of charity.

Methodist Hospital’s Rhetoric of Atonement: Examining an Organization’s Response to NICU Overdoses

“…Third, this study adds to our collective understanding of atonement rhetoric through a clear demonstration of organizational steps of atonement as compliment to previous work examining individual's responses. Previous work examining the theory of atonement rhetoric (Glantz, 2016;Jerome, 2008;Koesten & Rowland, 2004;Shepard, 2009) has focused on individual rhetorsa NASCAR driver, a celebrity punk rocker, and two U.S. presidentsand their responses to accusations of wrongdoing. The case of Methodist Hospital demonstrates organizational steps of atonement and moves the application of this theoretical lens into a new context.…”

“…In this work, the author argues that the primary focus of repentance is that the "rhetor must acknowledge wrongdoing and create the public perception that forgiveness was sought" and that this can be accomplished even without explicit statements directly asking for forgiveness (p. 132). In subsequent work, Glantz (2016) provided evidence to support the idea that rhetors are not always required to "explicitly ask the public for forgiveness" as demonstration of repentance but instead might offer statements showing they believe themselves to be unworthy of forgiveness. This approach provides a substitute for explicitly asking forgiveness in the repentance by enhancing the perception of mortification (p. 244).…”

“…The provided examples demonstrate the components of atonement rhetoric in action and help to establish it as a separate sub-genre of apologetic rhetoric. In recent years, the rhetoric of atonement has been examined through application in areas such as the sports world with an examination of misdeeds by a NASCAR driver (Jerome, 2008) as well as a celebrity's inflammatory, published critique about those who commit suicide (Glantz, 2016). In these two studies, the authors extend our understanding of the theory of atonement rhetoric in a number of ways.…”

“…This commitment to corrective action echoes evidence of "charity" demonstrated in previous analyses of atonement rhetoric. In a study of celebrity atonement, Glantz (2016) shows the rhetor's demonstration of charity through evidence of actions committed to a changed future:…”

“…This specific case contributes to our understanding of atonement rhetoric in a number of ways. First, previous work examining the theory of atonement rhetoric (Glantz, 2016;Jerome, 2008;Koesten & Rowland, 2004;Shepard, 2009) has focused on individual rhetorsa NASCAR driver, a celebrity punk rocker, and two U.S. presidentsand their responses to accusations of wrongdoing. The current essay adds to our collective understanding of atonement rhetoric through a clear demonstration of organizational steps of atonement moving the application of this theoretical lens into a new context.…”