The article “Wal-Martian Invasion” was first was published in The Baltimore Sun in July 2004. Barbara Ehrenreich, the author, voices her opinion on the constant growth of Wal-Mart and its inhumane acts towards its employees. She writes with the intent to persuade the people who read The Baltimore Sun to work together to stop this economic giant from taking over the city and America. The majority of Ehrenreich’s argument is focused on the metaphor that Wal-Mart is just like an alien invasion. “No one knows exactly when the pod landed on our planet, but it seemed normal enough…” These are words the author uses to describe Wal-Mart’s beginning. “Earth to Wal-Mars, or wherever you come from: Live with us or go back to the mothership,” is Ehrenreich’s final plea for her readers to see the problem that Wal-Mart is creating in our world and to put a final stop to it. Ehrenreich also uses plenty of different images to scare the audience into seeing her view. Among these are images of employees locked in a store at night and unable to find a way out in the midst of an emergency, or Wal-Mart being a sweatshop just like those in third world countries. These are not positive images and the author knows that they will help sway the opinion of her audience. Ehrenreich, through these rhetorical tools and strategies, opens the eyes of her audience to the effect of Wal-Mart on today’s world.
Ehrenreich uses her alien analogy throughout her whole article. From the title to the ending sentence, she keeps this image in our minds of Wal-Mart being a strange and possibly dangerous organization. “This could be the central battle of the 21st century: Earth people vs. the Wal-Martians.” Here, the author groups all the people on earth together. This makes the audience think that if they are human, they should be fighting against Wal-Mart, the only enemy. Grouping all “earth people” together also will make some people feel like they are abnormal and strange if they don’t agree with Ehrenreich. They will want to be like everyone else and will start to see Wal-Mart the same way that the author does.
One reason why Ehrenreich dislikes Wal-Mart is because it is so large. She tries to illustrate this point by saying that Wal-Mart is bigger than General Motors and is richer then the whole country of Switzerland. This is a strong image; one company is richer than a whole country? She pairs this information with an overstatement that will make her readers scared about what Wal-Mart is doing for the future of America. “My thumbnail calculation suggests that by the year 4004, every square inch of the United States will be covered by supercenters, so that the only place for new supercenters will be on top of existing ones.” This is a really strategic way to persuade her audience because there are 20 Wal-Mart stores within a 27 mile radius of Baltimore. The people who read The Baltimore Sun will be able to picture this fairly easily because they can see how the shopping centers are popping up everywhere.
