In To “Kill A Mockingbird” Atticus Finch is faced with a hostile racist jury during the case of State of Alabama v Thomas Robinson, this court case in particular has stood out to me because I am going be faced with a similar hostile jury soon; I will be analyzing the closing argument made by Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird to further prepare. In the closing argument made by Atticus there are several allusions and references to symbols that have an effect on the court.
An example of an allusion used by Atticus’s closing argument would be the reference to the word yankee and the use
Atticus uses this allusion when he says, “Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase that the Yankees and distaff side of the Executive Branch in Washington are fond of hurling at us.” Yankee is a dated term for a northerner who could be involved in politics and he also uses the word distaff which is the woman’s side of a
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In this Allusion Atticus uses three comparisons saying that in court a pauper is equal to a Rockefeller and the stupid man is equivalent to an Einstein; The court is the great equalizer.
Atticus also uses many varying styles of syntax which creates strong logos and pathos appeals, and persuades his court.
A fitting example of this is when Atticus explains, “And so a quiet, respectable, humble Negro who had the unmitigated temerity to ‘feel sorry’ for a white woman has had to put his word against two white people. Finch uses the asyndeton to display the characteristics of Tom Robinson and to make him seem as a quiet, respectable, and humble person. This asyndeton creates pathos and is used to sway the court