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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
Book 7: Eusabio
Explanation and Analysis—Laid Waste:
In this passage from Book 9, Cather evokes the reader’s sense of pathos to gain sympathy for the tragic fate of the Native Americans at the hands of Kit Carson and American “pioneers”:
This canyon had always before proved impenetrable to white troops. The Navajos believed it could not be taken. They believed that their old gods dwelt in the fastnesses of that canyon; like their Shiprock, it was an inviolate place, the very heart and center of their life.
Carson followed them down into the hidden world between those towering walls of red sandstone, spoiled their stores, destroyed their deep-sheltered corn-fields, cut down the terraced peach orchards so dear to them. When they saw all that was sacred to them laid waste, the Navajos lost heart. They did not surrender; they simply ceased to fight.
This passage appeals to a reader’s emotions in an attempt to make them see the other, darker side of American frontiersmanship. Cather’s descriptions of the tragic rout, the despoiling of Native lands, and the destruction of "all that was sacred" to the Navajo people through American hubris is heart-wrenching. While Carson was hailed as a hero by many during his time, these images show him in a different, bloodier light. Before his arrival, the Navajo had thought their canyon to be an inviolate place: somewhere that would always “prove impenetrable” to the invading settlers. They believed it to be inhabited by their old gods and central to their way of life.
This peaceful safety is ruptured on Carson's arrival, and language of destruction and terror is everywhere in the quotation. Carson and his men "spoiled their stores," "destroyed their deep-sheltered corn-fields," and "cut down the terraced peach orchards.” In passages like this, the author demonstrates her revulsion at what she regards as the unthinking, greedy spread of American settlers across the continent.
Related Themes:
