Bragg uses vivid detail throughout his memoir. What is the purpose of the following
description?
"It was dark inside, but light enough to see what looked like a bundle of quilts on the corner
of the sofa. Deep inside them was a ghost of a man, his hair and beard long and going dirty
gray, his face pale and cut with deep grooves. I knew I was in the right house because my
daddy's only real possessions, a velvet-covered board pinned with medals, sat inside a
glass cabinet on a table. But this couldn't be him."
to inform the reader that Bragg's father lives in poverty
to establish tension because Bragg has not seen his father in a long time
to describe the home that Bragg grew up in
to show that Bragg has neglected his father

This particular passage of Rick Bragg's memoir does not focus on the house, although we can still infer a few things about it. It focuses on his father's appearance, describing him is a vivid and somber way. He is now "a ghost of a man", dirty and old. But most importantly, "this couldn't be him." Bragg cannot recognize his own father after so many years. And describing him this way only makes tension grow. Readers are now curious and worried as to what has happened and what will happen. His father is clearly in a bad condition, most likely dying (ghost).