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To Kill A Mockingbird Ethos Pathos Logos

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Rosa Parks once said, “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome”. Many instances within the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” relate to the topic of racism and how it is introduced to children. During the Great Depression, there was an excess amount of stigma that people of color were inferior to white people. This racism in the time period seems to have inspired Harper Lee to write a novel which encompasses this topic. The main characters Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Bob Ewell face moments that deal with racism all told from the perspective of a six year old girl, Scout. The intended purpose of expressing racial relations in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” …show more content…

Harper Lee uses the appeal to logos to express her main intent. In Atticus Finch’s argument he attempts to sway a racist audience with proof that the black Tom Robinson was not the one to beat Mayella Ewell. The argument started with, “Mr. Ewell wrote on the back of the envelope and looked up complacently to see Judge Taylor staring at him… ‘What’s so interesting?’ he asked. ‘You’re left handed, Mr. Ewell” (237). Atticus Finch commences proving his point, by requiring Bob Ewell to write his name on an envelope. Thus showing Mr.Ewell is primarily left handed. He furthers his point with “ If her right eye was blackened and she was mostly beaten on the right side of the face, it would tend to show that a left-handed person did it. Sherlock Holmes and Jem Finch would agree” (238). Tom Robinson’s left arm is crippled due to an accident at the cotton gin. By showing Mr. Ewell was left handed and Mayella was wounded on the right side of her body it seems highly unlikely that Tom Robinson was the culprit. Through this information Atticus diverges in logos to achieve his main point. Since the rhetorical appeal to logos is seemingly one of the most convincing, it’s failure to sway the jury shows the amount of racism subsiding in Maycomb County. As well it demonstrates relations between the white and black community due to the color of each other's

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When Atticus gave his speech he took into account what he had to say and in what circumstances. He was in a courtroom with a bunch of un educated racist white men and women who wanted to see a black man be put to death for the false accusation of a black man raping a white woman. This was how he appealed the ‘ethos’ appeal of the people of Maycomb. Atticus thereafter attacked the ‘logos’ appeal when he called on large facts of the case. For example he brings up the left-handed injuries of Mayella when Tom was right handed.

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Grabbing the audience's attention and making them want to hear more is the most important part of any conversation, especially when it is in court. In To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus Finch wants to create a stable groundwork for all the claims and evidence he has brought up throughout his case. He does this by using Pathos, Ethos, and Logos to first appeal to the audience's emotions and establish a credibility to himself, he finally uses logic to wrap up all the claims he has made. The closing argument uses Pathos, Ethos, and Logos to establish logic and morals to the case and make him sound credible.

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Published in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is a timeless novel that is narrated by young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. The novel takes place in a small Alabama town called Maycomb during the 1930s, a period when racism and segregation were heavily prominent in society. Although Scout is young, she is already exposed to the presences of discrimination and inequalities within her small town. Scout’s father, Atticus Finch, is an esteemed lawyer with beliefs that differ from others and a strong desire to do the right thing. Atticus teaches his children valuable lessons, such as the other means of handling conflicts, the importance of equality, and the deception of outer appearances in hopes that they learn to feel compassion

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