Hello. You did not enter the text to which this question refers, which makes it impossible for it to be answered accurately. However, I will try to help you in the best possible way.
According to the reading of your question, we can see that the author uses persuasive techniques related to something that is painful for him. In that case, we can consider that he uses pathos as a persuasive technique. This is because pathos is a resource that explores the emotion of the reader in relation to the topic addressed, this makes the reader sympathize with the author's words and intensifying the tone promoted in the text.