Similarities Between To Kill A Mockingbird And Atticus Finch

Comparison of Atticus Finch’s and Marc Antony’s Speeches Most would agree that a convincing, effective speech can be a difficult to write and deliver, in part because it takes immense skill to effectively sway people’s minds, especially those not in favor, with words alone. However, Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar and Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird features two characters, Marc Atony and Atticus Finch, respectively, who can do ju `st that by using rhetorical devices to their advantage. Throughout both Atticus Finch’s closing argument in To Kill a Mockingbird, and in Marc Antony’s speech at Caesar’s funeral in Julius Caesar, numerous rhetorical devices such as parallelism and irony were present as well as the rhetorical appeals

Atticus and Marc Antony equivalently attempt to sway their audiences by using pathos to appeal to familiar emotions. In his closing argument, Atticus explains to the jury that his pity didn’t, “extend as far as to [Mayella’s] putting a man’s life at stake, which she has done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt” and Antony exclaims to his crowd that his “heart is in the coffin there with Caesar” (Lee 271; Shakespeare 3.2.116). Atticus attempts to appeal to the emotions of the jury by telling them that he does pity Mayella, but she is risking the life of a man, which should rock them emotionally; Marc Antony expresses his own feelings of closeness to Cesar which makes the audience more emotionally invested. However, Marc Antony’s use of pathos differs from Atticus’ in that he has an easier time connecting to his audience to convince them of Caesar’s wrongful death, mostly because of his circumstance As Atony reminds the Roman people, they “all did love him once, not without cause,” so it is easier for him to reach them emotionally than it is for Atticus to reach the jury emotionally, because the jury doesn’t have much positive connection with a black man, as they are all white (Shakespeare

Antony’s most prominent advantage in his speech was actually this ethos because he connected deeply with the Roman people. Right from the start, Antony addresses them as, “Friends, Romans, countrymen” (Shakespeare 3.2.82). This establishes Antony as a peer, and as trustworthy, before he even begins his manipulation, so the Romans are already open to his persuasion, and this makes it much easier for him to prove his point of Brutus’ wrongdoings. Atticus, like Antony, establishes the connection of familiarity immediately, but reaches an impasse when it comes to his subject because of his audience. As Scout explains, Atticus “unbuttoned his collar, loosened his tie, and took off his coat” before he begins his closing argument (Lee 271). By doing so, Atticus becomes less like a high and mighty lawyer, and more like a regular townsperson, and more like a peer to the jury. This initially makes them more ready to consider his side, but it becomes difficult Atticus once the discussion of Tom begins because unlike the white jury, Tom is a culturally-different black man. To help ease over this, Atticus does employ some irony when he mentions that Tom “felt sorry” for Mayella, similar to Antony’s ironic mention of Brutus’s honor multiple times in the speech (Lee 273). Nonetheless, Antony’s use