The Use Of Pathos In Bring Back Flogging By Jeff Jacoby

Every civilized society makes laws that protect its values, and the society expects every single citizen to obey these laws. Whenever a citizen of a certain society breaks one of these laws, the rulers of the society dish out punishments they dim fit for the kind of crime committed. With this kind of justice system in place, criminals are either locked up in prison cells, whipped, or exiled from the society. In the essay, “Bring Back Flogging”, columnist Jeff Jacoby argues that flogging is much more superior to imprisonment and should be brought back as a method of punishing crime offenders like the Puritans did in the past. He is convinced that the shame associated with flogging would prevent offenders from going into crime professionally. Jacoby believes that whipping criminals has more educational value compared to locking them up in cells and that it saves a lot of money. Throughout the essay Jacoby attempts to build ethos even though it fell apart due to misconceptions. He relied mostly on the use of pathos by appealing to his reader’s emotions and using this as a base ground for his logos. In the essay, Jacoby builds his ethos by relating and addressing his opponents

He uses logical reasoning to make the readers see his point of view by using facts. He states that every crime offense committed in the modern world makes the offender go behind bars even if the crime is not brutal (197). He thinks that they offenders should be beaten and flogged rather than being locked like animals in a cage. He uses statistics to also prove his point that and says that not even all of these criminals are brought to justice by the government (197). His solution for the problem, hence, is flogging. I think his logic is flawed because not all criminals, no matter the level of public embarrassment and degradation are going to reform and turn new