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Oxymorons
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: Kojo
Explanation and Analysis—The Only One I Got:
Kojo’s sorrows only multiply on that fatal day when slave catchers visit. After Anna disappears one afternoon, he scours Baltimore for her and runs into trouble on the streets. A White woman hails the police, who confront Jo for potential harassment and humiliate him, in a moment filled with pathos:
Jo shook his head. He'd almost lost the picture once that day and didn't know what he would do if he lost it again. "Please, sir. It's the only one I got."
Then Jo heard the sound of paper tearing. He looked up to see Anna's nose and ears and strands of hair, the shredded bits of paper flying off in the wind.
Kojo’s encounter tugs at heartstrings because of its callousness; this scene amplifies emotion through a stunning display of its very opposite. Like the woman, the policeman doesn’t just fail to help Kojo find Anna but criminalizes him for doing so. The policeman threatens arrest and tears up Kojo’s only picture of Anna. The novel creates heartbreaking pathos in the contrast between Kojo’s desperate pleas and the policeman’s perverse cruelty. The man who has lost his wife and son gets punished for searching and pays a steep penalty.
Homegoing draws on the heartache of this moment to show America’s pervasive racism and injustices. Whether from slave catchers, malicious strangers, or both, Black people like Kojo can hardly keep pictures—much less families—for themselves. In its frustrating cruelty, the scene indicts a society that lacks both sympathy and the most basic sense of humanity.
Related Themes:
Part 2: Willie
Explanation and Analysis—It Was Robert:
For Willie, an afternoon walk through Harlem becomes a sudden source of pathos when she crosses paths with her ex-lover on the street. While standing with Sonny at a crosswalk, Willie glimpses Rob on the other side:
It was Robert. He was bent down on one knee, tying the shoe of a little boy of maybe three or four. A woman was holding the little boy's hand on the other side of him. The woman had finger-curled blond hair cut short so that the longest strands just barely licked the tip of her chin. Robert stood back up. He kissed the woman, the little boy smushed between them for only a moment. Then Robert looked up and across the intersection. Willie's eyes met his.
Willie’s exchange with Rob lasts no longer than the span of a few glances. But the hurt lingers long after she turns around and retreats into Harlem. This sight of Rob is heartbreaking, and not least because it rings with betrayal. Through its attention to Rob’s new lover, Homegoing captures a pain that runs deeper than the mere slight of seeing an ex. Instead, it reveals a man who has exchanged his former commitments for the safe comforts of whiteness. Rob has chosen this White woman over Willie, knowing exactly what her “finger-curled blond hair” and his own cream-colored skin mean. He has rebuilt his own life, retreating into the privileges afforded by his appearance. More than the uncomfortable feeling of abandonment, the moment pinpoints the subtle cruelty of Rob’s calculating designs.
Related Themes:
