Atticus Speech in To Kill A Mockingbird Essay Sample

📌Category: Books, Speech, To Kill a Mockingbird
📌Words: 928
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 12 April 2022

Would one rather be charged with a crime you didn't commit, or have one's attacker let free for a crime they did commit? In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, this is what is being prevented. Atticus has taken on the task of being an accused rapist's lawyer. He has to question the three witnesses and convince the jury that the accused man, Tom Robinson, is innocent, contrary to what the said victim and her father say. Through the trial, they find that the victim, Mayella, may not have been treated with kindness by her father and may have even been a victim to her father. Atticus’s main goal is to edify the jury on Tom Robinson’s side of the story. Atticus uses tactics, such as user authorization, facts, and emotions to convince the jury that Tom Robinson is an innocent man. 

For starters, the first tactic Atticus uses is ethos, and ethos which helps to make him relatable to the other characters. Before Atticus starts his argument he “... did something I never saw him do before or since, in public or in private: he unbuttoned his vest, unbuttoned his collar, loosened his tie, and took off his coat” (Lee 230). By becoming relatable it makes the people he is trying to convince relate to him. Before he did this they would only have thought of him as someone who was just doing what they do every day, instead of as someone who cared. One of the most important things that he did was make the jury feel a connection between him, and think of him as a real person. By doing this he shows that he is a paragon of a good lawyer, and surely has a good chance of winning the case. Atticus uses word choices to become more relatable as well, for instance when he says “...it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts'' (Lee 230). What Atticus means is that this case is simple, and they don't need to overthink it, which makes him seem more down to earth. The jury might think of lawyers as professional, and only speaking in terms they might not understand, and while this could appeal to the judge, when he says they don't need to make it complicated, they can lean-to and agree with him rather than not. 

Next, Attikus uses real facts and logic to try to win over the jury. Logos is using facts to get the point across and that is what Atticus does when he tells the jury about how Mayella and her father never called a doctor. “The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place” (Lee 230). Usually, when something horrible like this happens, they have a doctor see them and see what happened, but in the book, they did not call a doctor. The statement that they did not call a doctor is a fact, and facts sway the jury to believe him. The easiest thing to make them believe him is solid facts, which gives them a reason to believe him. “The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is” (Lee 230). When Atticus uses this wording it sets a dramatic tone and leads the jury to question everyone in the courtroom and who might be guilty other than Tom Robinson. Had he not said this the jury would have overlooked Mayellas father, and his attitude towards Mayllea, and how he handled the situation. Bob Eulle wasn't very fastidious and didn't even notice why Atticus wanted to know his dominant hand, which can show the jurors that he might not care that much about anything. 

Finally, Atticus uses emotions to sway the mind of the jury. Pathos is using the emotion of others to get them to think harder about their decision, and in this case, whether or not they think Tom Robbinson is guilty. When he said “is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up. I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family. In the name of God, do your duty.” (Lee 230) the jury starts to question themselves. When Atticus tells the jury to not be prejudiced he is appealing to their emotions and making them think to themselves if they might be acting unjust. “There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, and no man is living who has never looked upon a woman without desire.” (Lee 230) I believe that this sentence would make anyone rethink the decisions they have made and all the times they may have told a lie. This sentence along with the previous quote both make the jury think about themselves and their perspective. It could lead them to ponder the truth in every witness's stories. It causes them to rethink the veracity of the witness's story. Mayllea’s father also said things that weren't considered to be things you should say, and so that may also lead them to spurn the prosecution's argument. 

In conclusion, Atticus uses tactics such as ethos, logos, and pathos to prove to the jury that Tom Robinson is innocent. Atticus uses ethos to show that he was one of the jury’s and could connect with them. He uses logos to show the jurors solid facts and reasoning as to why Tom Robinson would be innocent. Atticus uses pathos to connect to the jury’s emotions and convince them that way. By the end of his speech, a majority of the jury may have been swayed because of the perspective Atticus shared with them. Nobody wants the wrong person to be blamed or the wrong one to be blamed, and this is the job of Atticus Finch.

+
x
Remember! This is just a sample.

You can order a custom paper by our expert writers

Order now
By clicking “Receive Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails.