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How Does Atticus Finch Use Rhetorical Appeals In To Kill A Mockingbird

1028 Words5 Pages

Samantha Ilewicz
Pre AP English 9
Rachel Drouin
10 March 2023

Super awesome cool title In a court case, there is a defendant and a prosecutor. Each of these people has a motivation to win, and an argument to do so. To make these arguments stronger, rhetorical appeals are used. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell kisses Tom Robsinson, a black man, during a time where that was not accepted throughout society. Due to these assumptions, Mayella comes to the decision that she must frame the man, and is motivated to follow through with it. When brought to court, the case is seen by Atticus Finch, a lawyer whose motivation is argued with powerful rhetorical techniques. Atticus Finch brings justice to the court by using the logos and pathos …show more content…

During the trial, Atticus reveals that, “Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely,”(Lee). Mayella and her father claimed the abuser to be Tom Robinson. As Mayella had been beaten mostly on her left side, Atticus mentioned that Mayella’s father “swore out a warrant, no doubt signing it with his left hand,”(Lee). By showing Mayella’s father’s dominant hand, the newfound information that he was possibly guilty entered the jury’s minds, yet Tom Robinson was still a suspect. To defend Tom, Atticus said that, “Tom Robinson now sits before you, having taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses-his right,”(Lee). With this, Atticus successfully proved that Tom could not have beaten Mayella, but with the racist thoughts of the jury, he also had to convince them with more …show more content…

By his logic, if the court knew what Mayella thought throughout the case, and knew why she framed Tom, they would be able to understand that Tom is innocent. Atticus provides logical reasoning to this by explaining that, “She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man.”(Lee). Atticus describes what Mayella did, but explains why she felt it was so wrong. It wasn’t because she had committed a crime, and it wasn’t because Tom committed a crime; it was because she had broken the racist codes of Maycomb county, and because this racism was embedded so deep in the roots of her life, Mayella needed to frame Tom so she wouldn’t be thought of as someone negative. This shows Mayella’s motive to frame Tom, and by showing that, the court is further convinced to believe Tom Robinson. Despite this, the jury is still full of racists, so Atticus does more for Tom's case through the use of the pathos

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For the closing statement of Atticus was moving speech that could not determine the fate of Tom Robinson’s verdict. Atticus used artistic proofs, anaphora, and multiple other persuasive tools to connect with his audience and to prove to the jury that Tom Robinson was innocent. Even with the substantial evidence against the Ewell’s testimony the prejudice and racism that was being shown to the black community in Maycomb overcame the truth. In Atticus’s closing statement he attempted to create people of all races equal in the court

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Tom Robinson is innocent because there is a lack of solid evidence linking him to the rape of Mayella. During the trial, Mayella claims that she screamed the whole time Tom allegedly took advantage of her; however, when Atticus questions her, she is not able to come up with any probable answers to prove Atticus’ statements wrong. Atticus asks her, “‘Why didn’t the other children hear you?’. . . ‘Or didn’t you scream until you saw your father in the window? You didn’t scream until then, did you?’”, but Mayella always has no answer to his questions (Lee 250-251).

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Harper Lee once wrote, “You never really understand a person until you consider their things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” The novel To Kill A Mockingbird was placed during the culturally segregated U.S. from the 1950s through the 1970s. Atticus Finch a white lawyer defends Tom a black man who has been wrongly accused of raping his girlfriend, Mayella Ewell. Atticus Finch a fictional character uses ethos, pathos, and logos in his closing arguments in defense of Tom. To begin Atticus uses ethos to show that his argument is far more credible than the Platiff’s due to the lack of evidence on the opposing side.

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I am reading To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and I am on page 259. In this part of the book the trial begins and Mayella and Tom testify. Mayella lies about how Tom hurts her. Atticus knows that Mayella is lying and that Tom would not hurt a white woman. Unfortunatley, Mayella wins the trial and Tom is accused of raping Mayella.

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Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, was her witness in court, but he was the one who abused Mayella. In her classic Southern novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee characterizes Atticus Finch as considerate, equal, intelligent, and courageous in order to reveal her ideas about social justice and empathy. One characteristic shown through Atticus is consideration. He demonstrates how considerate he is throughout the novel by caring for

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Of course, she blames Robinson for the act, despite the inconsistent certitude that his left arm was eviscerated in a cotton mill during a calamitous accident suffered during his childhood. This startling attestation is furthermore enunciated when Atticus utilizes delayed sentence in the following declaration: “Tom Robinson now sits before you, having taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses—his right hand,”(Lee 273). By highlighting Tom’s crippled state in such a melodramatic fashion, Atticus not only establishes the now nearly irrefutable notion of Robinson’s innocence, but also garners sympathy from the jury for his client, both of which are essential factors in his

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Atticus shows that the person who beat up Mayella would have to be a left handed person. I believe Tom Robinson messed up his right hand in an accident and cannot hit her of the right side of her face if he couldn't hit with his left hand. They then point out that the father didn’t report anything for Mayella’s medical condition and why he didn’t report it. The father Bob Ewell then tries to covers that up and make it look like he was after the “person” who did it to Mayella and didn’t think to get help right away just “justice”. Then the whole trial comes down to the fact that the whole town is racist and believing a white male and his white daughter.

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In Atticus’ closing argument, the prejudice against Tom Robinson is that he is black, and that any crime that he commits thus must be true, “ the evil assumption - that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings…” (Lee).This affects the possibility of Atticus proving Robinson not guilty because of the prejudice that everyone in the courtroom has against him. The case is revolving around that Tom Robinson is accused of beating and raping Mayella Ewell, the counterargument that Atticus presents shows that Mayella was beaten with the left hand, but Tom Robinson is only capable of using his right hand because his left hand was caught in a cotton gin completely disabling it. Atticus incorporates the use of both logical and emotional appeals in his speech to convince the courtroom that Robinson is not a guilty man. Atticus shoots all the evidence he has at the courtroom and tells them, “In the name of God, do your duty,” (Lee).

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Even though Atticus was pointing out obvious ways that Tom could not have raped or hurt Mayella, the jury would not pick in favor of a black man, no matter how innocent he may

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In To Kill a Mockingbird, Attius Finch uses ethos and logos to convince the jury of Tom’s innocence by saying Mayella kissed a black man and that guilt motivated her. Atticus uses ethos to convince the jury of Tom's innocence by saying that Mayella felt motivated by the guilt she felt about kissing a black man. In the argument Atticus says “Not an old uncle, but a strong young black man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards.”

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871 Words | 4 Pages

Tom was accused of raping a white woman who was Mayella Ewell, Mayella said he raped her while he was helping her with chores. She later on tells the readers that it was false allegations. The reason why she didn 't tell the truth at her first trial was because, Mayella was afraid of being embarrassed because she kissed a black male. She rather have an innocent man get charged with a crime than that. “However, Robinson was transferred from the state prison to Maycomb 's county jail on Saturday, two days before he stood trial on Monday, and Atticus had to defend him against a lynch mob”.

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764 Words | 4 Pages

Atticus, when trying to channel his points through to the jury uses imagery by noting, ‘“No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards,’” (232). Which allows us to see that Mayella is cornered by the weight of her actions, kissing a black man. The point of Atticus’s final words are to make the jury believe that Tom Robinson is innocent and he strongly does that when he claims,’“... but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left,’”

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1090 Words | 5 Pages

By referring to Mayella as ‘she,’ Atticus disregards her poverty-stricken life and lack of education, insisting that being white is enough. Enough to make up such lies about an innocent and independent black man, knowing that her affection and feelings towards Tom will be sheltered by the cloak of her white skin. By applying language such as ‘she,’ Atticus refuses to give her the respect of being referred to by her name. Furthermore, in comparison to Mayella, Tom Robinson is no monster, but “... a human being.” Atticus comments that “She must put Tom Robinson away from her.

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798 Words | 4 Pages

In the middle of the book, the town was quick to believe Mayella and her father, saying Tom Robinson raped Mayella. Atticus was then hired to be his lawyer with the African Americans rooting him on but the Caucasians attacking him and his family. Atticus said, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view — until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” Chapter 3, page 30. This quote works for Mayella and Tom Robinson.

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813 Words | 4 Pages

When discovered she covers her guilt and shame by accusing him of rape. In this era and in this community, Mayella’s accusation is seen as reasonable and unfortunately believable, which leaves Tom beaten before he enters the trial. However, Atticus expresses a powerful message in his closing argument to create a move for change in his society. The argument is expressed subliminally, by communicating that in the 1930’s society disregarded that all were equal, and categorised men and women based on the colour of their skin.

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