Here Burke suggests expanding the realm of rhetoric to include the ways in which we operate rhetorically upon ourselves, forging identifications through unexamined or nonconscious motives, self-protective or suicidal.
Burke's argument emphasizes that our internal processes of self-identification are influenced by rhetorical strategies, even if these processes are not consciously recognized. These internal identifications can be driven by both a desire for self-preservation and a potential for self-destruction.