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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 9
Explanation and Analysis—Shevek's Speech:
At a political demonstration in Capitol Square, Shevek speaks before the crowd as a representative of Anarres. In this speech, he speaks "out of the center of his own being" and uses pathos to persuade the audience:
It is our suffering that brings us together. It is not love. Love does not obey the mind, and turns to hate when forced. The bond that binds us is beyond choice. We are brothers. We are brothers in what we share. In pain, which each of us must suffer alone, in hunger, in poverty, in hope, we know our brotherhood. We know it, because we have had to learn it. We know that there is no help for us but from one another, that no hand will save us if we do not reach out our hand.
While this passage may appear to be an example of logos, as Shevek emphasizes the unreliability of love and the importance of the mind, this knowledge is only the basis for the feelings that motivate their emotional response. Shevek appeals to the audience's experience of suffering by calling on general ideas of pain, isolation, hunger, poverty, and hope. By evoking these feelings, Shevek puts his audience in the same frame of mind, making them remember how they felt in the moments that they suffered. He knows the power of suffering because he himself has suffered greatly, and he has been able to recognize that suffering in his audience over the days he has spent in the poorer districts of Nio Esseia. His rhetoric calls for the audience to empathize with him and with one other—to feel together what they each feel alone.
Related Themes:
