Rhetorical Devices In Atticus's Speech

The special feature of Atticus’s speech is characterization. Harper Lee addresses three groups discriminators, the Founding Fathers and America. The first set of people she describes is discriminators. Lee surfaces the fact that hatred blinds people to turn against one another as seen through Mayella Ewell’s beating. Another addressed group is America’s Founding Fathers, particularly Thomas Jefferson, author of the Constitution and the father of the idea that all men are created equal. Lee points out the famous quote about equality that she believes to be miss-interrupted. She expresses the misconception of the famous quote: “All men are created equal” all men are not created equal, but they can be equal through justice: equality and justice are not compatible words. The definition of equality is the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities and the definition of justice

Lee uses the anaphora, “that all Negros”, to emphasize the belief that all are unscrupulous. Following, she uses another anaphora, “some Negros”, to give recognition to the God-fearing blacks of America; one bad person does not dictate the goodness of a whole community- “white or black”. Lee uses parallelism to prove that mankind itself is not equal; some are smart and others are dumb, some are good cooks while others burn their food, and the list goes on. This indicates that whites and blacks are unequal, but all are amongst themselves though nature regardless of color. She uses another parallelism to argue where differences do not matter in the Judicial Branch. Lee says through Atticus this is where all people are equal no matter who they are because the courts give everyone an equal chance. By Lee using parallelisms and anaphoras gives a sense of unity among Americans, regardless of talent or the color of their skin because all men are created