The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Ethos

Have you ever realized how oppression leads to conformity? In the stories “The Outcast of Poker Flat” by Bret Harte and “My bondage and my freedom” by Frederick Douglass, the relationship between societal oppression and conformity is clearly seen. Throughout these stories the authors used the rhetorical strategy, ethos, to thoroughly represent the Conformity that has been demonstrated. Addiction to that the characters in these stories demonstrate how oppression in society leads to conformity The societal message that oppression leads to conformity is shown by the use of ethos in “My bondage and my freedom”. Ethos is shown in the story when Master Hugh told Mrs.Auld not to continue to teach Fredrick Douglass. This shows that society during that time did not have high morals towards respecting others. In this story, Douglass states that the little boys from the neighborhood said, “they believed I had as good as a right to be free as they did” and that they also stated, “ they

Mr.Oakhurst showcased his good morals by not cheating while gambling, however, the townspeople show cased by morals because they exiled him from the town based on the unproved words of others. In the same story, Harte writes about a prostitute named Duchess that was excelled because of her promiscuous activities. Because of the societal beliefs that promiscuous activities were considered immoral and shameful, the towns people exiled Duchess. The societal oppression caused towns people to conform their beliefs and opinions to the beliefs and opinions that were accepted thus leading to depression of the individuals who did not