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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
Part 1
Explanation and Analysis—American Loyalty:
In Part 1, Blevins uses pathos to try to convince Rawlins and John Grady to let him join them:
What the hell would we want you with us for?
He didnt answer. He sat looking at the sandy water running past them and at the thin wicker shadows of the willows running out over the sandbar in the evening light. He looked out to the blue sierras to the south and he hitched up the shoulder strap of his overalls and sat with his thumb hooked in the bib and turned and looked at them.
Cause I’m an American, he said.
This is Blevins’s final desparate appeal to Rawlins and John Grady to let him join their expedition. At first he is not sure what to say, but the picturesque landscape gives him resolve and seems to conjure the romantic language and emotional appeal he is searching for. Given Blevins's romantic impression of the country, a certain romanticism bleeds into his appeal as well. He draws on their shared status as Americans and their presumed loyalty to one another simply because they are from the same country. Blevins does not have much to materially offer Rawlins or John Grady, so he turns to idealism to find shared ground.
Related Themes:
