Atticus Finch's Appeal In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Casandra Fazio 4/7/15 Atticus Essay Have you ever wanted to do something for someone that nobody else wanted to due? That is exactly what Atticus Finch does for Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus stands up in front of the racist town Maycomb and the Jury. Atticus tries to convince the jury that Tom did not rape Mayella Ewell, and that he is innocent. Atticus utilizes Aristotle’s three persuasive appeals. He does this in his powerful speech targeting Maycomb’s values of religion, tradition and patriotism. Maycomb highly represents a true respect for religion. In Atticus's speech he gets the audience to feel guilty about accusing an innocent man of rape and reflect on what God would want them to do. Also, he's trying to get them to rethink what they are doing.…show more content…
He states she broke a code rather than committing a crime. This helps achieve Atticus’s purpose because it gets the audience to consider the facts, deeply think and reconsider their thoughts and decisions on the case. He is proving that the assumption that all blacks are wrongs and whites are always right is wrong. Many Maycomb residents value patriotism. Atticus uses a sense of credibility to target this value in his speech by creating reassurance that all Maycomb residents are equal. Walter Cunningham, a poor neighbor was having dinner with the Finches. Walter poured too much syrup all over is food and Scout lashed disrespecting Walter. “But he’s gone and drowned his dinner on syrup...theres somes folks that don’t eat like us, she whispered fiercely.” (32) Just like Calpurnia recognising that everyone in Maycomb is equal at the dinner table, Atticus manipulates this in his speech. Atticus brings up that all everyone is equal by recognizing important people who have said wise words about equality. “But there is one way in this country which all men are created equal.” (274) This uses an appeal that opens up that jurys eyes to the fact that Tom and Mayella
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