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Motifs
Definition of Pathos
Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Pathos is an argument that appeals to... read full definition
Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Pathos is... read full definition
Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Worse'n Boils:
Willie Stark is a skilled orator and uses rhetorical methods to persuade his audiences. When he and his team visit Mason City in Chapter 1, he briefly speaks to a gathered crowd but says that he isn't giving a speech. He presents himself as an honest representative of the people: "I'm not a politician today. I'm taking the day off. I'm not even going to ask you to vote for me." Then he makes self-deprecating remarks that are, in fact, criticisms of corrupt and greedy politicians:
"You know"—and he leaned forward a little now, as if to tell them a secret—"it's funny how I just can't make friends with some folks. No matter how hard I try. I been just as polite. I said, Please. But please didn't do any good. But it looks like they got to put up with me a spell longer. And you have. Before you get shet of me. So you better just grin and bear it. It's not any worse'n boils. Now, is it?"
Just before this, Willie described how "a passel of those statesmen" want to remove him from office, because they can't stand him. Willie has tried to be polite, he says, and he said "Please." He makes himself out to be a social pariah in Baton Rouge. The other politicians strain to put up with him, and Willie asks for mock forgiveness from his audience: "you better just grin and bear it."
But Willie is being facetious here, and appealing to the audience's emotions. By claiming that he is an outcast only because he is polite and righteous, Willie uses pathos, stirring the audience's sympathy for him as a good man scorned. He attempts to make the audience feel bad for him, claiming that no one, politicians or Mason City residents, can "bear" him. Willie amplifies this effect by leaning in, "as if to tell them a secret." It seems as if Willie is genuinely put off by how he "can't seem to make friends with some folks," and as if he is genuinely sorry for troubling his audience with his presence. Willie is, indeed, disliked by many Louisiana politicians for his indefatigable work ethic and strong morality, especially at this point of his story, in 1926. But here, in order to curry favor in Mason City, he describes his situation in the most pitiful terms.
Related Themes:
