Atticus Finch Ethos In To Kill A Mockingbird

Throughout the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch was put to the test to defend juvenile Tom Robinson, an African American falsely accused of raping a white woman. Atticus fought long and hard and had he and Tom Robinson been guaranteed the right to a fair trial, they would have won. Atticus’s closing argument rendered countless pieces of evidence and did in fact catch the attention of the jury; but even in the beginning, the decision was clear. Although Atticus lost the trial, his argument was effective due to his excessive use of Aristotelian techniques.

Atticus had used countless persuasive devices throughout his argument. One of which being ethos. Ethos can be shown in so many ways, especially in ethics. “This case should never have come to trial. This case [was] as simple as black and white,” (Lee 271). This case was such a deficiency in justice, nobody in

the courtroom seemed to have cared about right and wrong. Atticus tried to sway the jury to consider their ethics throughout his argument. “[His] pity [did] not extend as far as to her putting a man’s life at stake, which she [had] done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt,” (Lee 271). It was shown greatly in the courtroom how nobody in Maycomb, especially Mayella, had any sense of strong ethics or right and wrong. The fact that she falsely accused Tom in order to rid herself of guilt showed how heartless she was. It was effective for Atticus to add this into his argument because it made the jury think a little more. His facts about ethics and how it was wrong of Mayella and Mr. Ewell to create these lies created controversy among the jury. It took them quite some time to come up with their ruling. Therefore, Atticus’s usage of ethos was persuasive and effective.
With the use of the ethos, Atticus used pathos to add an emotional appeal to the jury.

He used vocabulary that was meaningful and would evoke a feeling of guilt and remorse for Tom from the jury. Atticus turned some of the stone hard facts into pathos. “A quiet, respectable, humble Negro who had the unmitigated temerity to ‘feel sorry’ for a white woman has had to put his word against two right people,” (Lee 273). Tom felt bad for Mayella and all she had had to go through, but it was unheard of up to this point for an African American to feel sorry for a white person. In order to even just tell the truth, Tom has had to break the Jim Crow Laws, defy whites, and been somewhat mocked by his responses. The courtroom is a place where everyone is equal, and Tom was never treated as such. Atticus tried to get the court to see that in his argument. He wanted to make them feel remorse for Tom not having been able to share the truth of a crime he never committed. Now, he will have to face the consequences as an innocent man. By evoking emotion from the courthouse, Atticus’s usage of pathos was

effective.
The last major appeal Atticus needed to seal the deal and make his argument effective was logos. He had ethics, emotion, and now he needed logic. In his closing speech, Atticus backed up everything from Tom’s unjustful trial with a cold hard fact straight out of The Constitution of The United States. “Jefferson once said that all men are created equal… And there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal… a court,” (Lee 273). The document of the United States, written by our founding fathers, supported that all men are created equal. Atticus used this logic and facts to prove to the jury that Tom Robinson deserved more than he got, he deserves a chance to be treated as everyone else in this courtroom. He made the point that it is in the nation’s code to remember all men are equal. It affected how the jury made their decision. Using ethics and emotion may go in one ear of the jury and out of the other, but they couldn’t deny Atticus’s use of persuasive logos.
Therefore, Atticus had a strong and effective argument. Hadn’t it been the time and circumstances this trial took place in, Atticus would’ve indeed won the trial. He used ethics/ethos, emotion/pathos, and logic/logos to prove his point to the jury. This case proved that whites and blacks are not equal in the courthouse, and Tom was denied his fair trial. Although Atticus lost the trial, his argument was effective due to his excessive use of Aristotelian devices.