Successful hoaxes manage to convince the audience that, despite all of their doubts, the story is believable and true. This is often accomplished by a stretching facts and making comparisons to real events and creatures, using supposed eye-witness testimonies, and even writing as if the debate is about the details of the hoax rather than it\u2019s true or not. The story about the Feejee mermaid is a prime example of these methods. The second paragraph of the Feejee mermaid story begins with \u201cAt all events our faith is sustained by the testimony of travelers and all others\u2026\u201d (109). The writer immediately suggests that we believe many things based off of other people\u2019s accounts, and that there is no reason that the \u201cevidence\u201d of the reality of mermaids is any different. The writer subtly convinces the reader that if they don\u2019t want to doubt their entire reality that comes from others\u2019 testimonies, they ought to at least entertain the possibility of mermaids. The writer then argues that creatures such as sea lions and sea dogs exist (109).\u00a0 After mentioning these creatures which people believe are factual, the author argues that the reader can easily \u201cinfer\u201d that mermaids might exist since humans are animals just like dogs or lions.\u00a0 Although this argument sounds ridiculous to modern readers because the names such as sea lions don\u2019t imply a half lion half fish creature, the writer attempts to make this into a completely logical argument by stretching common truths and beliefs. The writer later states \u201cperhaps the wonder is that they [mer-people] are seen so often as they are- or not at all\u201d (109).\u00a0 The argument quickly shifts from whether or not mer-people exist to why they are seen as much as they are. The debate over reality of their existence has more or less ended, at least for the moment, and the author soon proceeds to discredit counter-arguments. At the end of the story, the writer acts completely convinced of the mermaid\u2019s existence, and asks the disbelievers why mermaids\u2019 existence has been doubted for so long. The reality of mer-people is only logical according to the author, but in reality there is really no factual or logical backing for the arguments presented.\u00a0 The stretching of facts, supposed eye-witness evidence, and the author\u2019s tone of confidence attempt to create a highly believable story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Successful hoaxes manage to convince the audience that, despite all of their doubts, the story is believable and true. This is often accomplished by a stretching facts and making comparisons to real events and creatures, using supposed eye-witness testimonies, and … Continue reading