Rhetorical Analysis Of Senator Joseph Mccarthy

Arushi Patil
ILS 200, Discussion Section 307
Essay 1
19 March 2023
Essay 2
Senator Joseph McCarthy is famous for initiating the Red Scare, which made people question whether or not the US government was safe and trustworthy. McCarthy gave several speeches ranging from 1950 to 1953 addressing the existence of communism in America and its threatening consequences. His powerful rhetoric and compelling speaking style allowed McCarthy to gain and maintain an immense group of followers. Through the use of several rhetorical devices such as repetition and extreme language, McCarthy convinces his audience—a wide range of Americans—of the dangers of Communists and their presence in the US government, overall generating a sense of fear, urgency, and

McCarthy classifies the Democratic party into two groups, the first which he characterizes as people “who are just as loyal, who hate communism just as much, and love America just as much, as the average Republican.” By associating one half of the Democrats with himself, McCarthy questions his Democratic audience’s loyalty to their country. He gives them an ultimatum by saying that if they do not stand with him, they are automatically communists who are disloyal to America. This builds up McCarthy’s ethos as an American hero and simultaneously appeals to his audience’s pathos by creating a sense of unity within this newfound patriotic community versus their communist counterpart. Additionally, McCarthy further establishes a divide between the two groups of the Democratic party when he dubs the communist Democrats as the “Commicrat” party and claims they are “closely knit,” “complete prisoners,” and “under the complete domination” of the “communist frankenstein.” Again, McCarthy uses extreme diction to create panic and fear within his audience. By comparing communist Democrats to Frankenstien, he directly calls them a monster and associates them with cult-like habits such as extreme loyalty and willing submission. This

In the speech, McCarthy uses the analogy of skunk hunting and the motif of the handkerchief to juxtapose his behavior from his rivals. By comparing something dainty like a handkerchief to something unrefined like skunk hunting, he distinguishes his method of finding communists. This fulfills his aim as a speaker to please his audience—people who support him—by reassuring them of his commitment to eradicating communists from the government. A clear trend throughout his speeches is that McCarthy is constantly trying to gain audience support, and through the skunk hunting analogy he achieves this goal, because now his followers see the lengths he will go to protect them. In asserting his promise to find communists, McCarthy goes so far as to make the statement, “This job must continue[...]regardless of whether we hurt Democrats or Republican or anyone else.” By saying this, he again proves to his audience the lengths he is willing to go for his cause. This builds on top of his ethos because not only is McCarthy a credible source as a senator, he is also so loyal to his cause that political identities and norms no longer matter to him. This indirectly furthers his aim as a speaker to move because by showing his audience how far he will go, he is nudging them to also take a stance on the matter