What rhetorical device is being used in this example?

“ years from now when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten,’ dad said, ‘you’ll still have your stars.’”- the glass castle

The Rhetorical device used in the example is Pathos.

Explanation:

Rhetorical Device is simply a literary tool which helps us to understand the structure and writing style of any particular sentence.

‘The Glass Castle’ is a book by Jeannette Walls where she describes her own life story of poverty. The line, Years from now when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten,’ Dad said, ‘you’ll still have your stars’ is an example of Pathos rhetorical device. The appeal of this device is based on emotion.

The line depicts how her father provides an justification for not having any Christmas present for his children. There’s a deeply felt emotion in this line. The helplessness of a father and a sadness of his kids.