Atticus Finch Ethos Pathos Logos

In the year of 1935 a man was put on trial for a crime he never could have committed, but a lawyer named Atticus fighter to save his life by using his powers in the courtroom. This case was about the rape of Mayella Ewell by an African American man in a small southern town of Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus Finch, one of the town’s best lawyers has an insurmountable task ahead of him when he takes on the case of defending Tom from an extremely biased jury. In his arguments he uses persuasion techniques such as Ethos, Logos and Pathos to convince the jury of Tom’s apparent innocence.

Ethos in persuasive language is an appeal to authority and credibility. Ethos is used in Atticus’s argument is used many times to give validity to Tom’s word. In the 1930’s a Caucasian’s word was worth more than an African American’s word. This is problematic to the side of the defendants since the only direct evidence they have is Tom Robinson’s account of the matter. Harper Lee uses this to make the time period more realistic and allows Atticus’s closing argument to be more profound. An example of the argument being more profound is in the beginning of his closing argument. “The witness for the state, with

She uses this to support Atticus’s claim with the most prominent evidence the defense had, circumstantial evidence. “… there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left. We do know in part what Mr. Ewell did… he swore out a warrant, no doubt signing it with his left hand, and Tom Robinson now sits before you, having taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses- his right hand.” (Lee 206 par. 6) The logical arguments in the closing proves Tom’s innocence and also gives the jury proof to base their verdict on. This will hopefully be a not guilty decision based on the evidence stated by the