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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 7
Explanation and Analysis—The Three Women:
As the Nazis begin to invade France, forcing vulnerable populations to hide or sporadically relocate, Vianne experiences her first direct encounter with war refugees. Although Vianne lives in a rural area of France, her property is large and well-tended, inviting desperate men and women to approach her house in search of food. In Chapter 7, Hannah utilizes pathos to craft a tragic portrait of life in Europe for the less privileged, as Vianne finds herself forced to either help or turn away the refugees:
Before she reached it, a trio of women appeared, as if sculpted out of the shadows. They stood clumped together in the road just behind her gate. [...] Each looked glassy-eyed and feverish; the young mother was clearly trembling. Their faces were dripping with sweat, their eyes filled with defeat. The old woman held out dirty, empty hands. “Can you spare some water?” she asked, but even as she asked her the question, she looked unconvinced. Beaten.
Here, the narrator appeals to the reader's sense of emotion—also known as pathos—when describing the three women who approach Vianne's garden gate. It is not the women themselves who generate this sense of pathos, for they are so "unconvinced" and "beaten" that they put little effort into begging Vianne for help. Rather, it is Hannah's descriptive portrait of the women which evokes pathos in an attempt to capture the reader's emotion. From the description of these "glassy-eyed and feverish" women, the reader is bound to feel a sense of hopelessness and even pity, for these women appear simply as a tragic product of their unstable, impoverished, and now war-torn environment. Hannah's specific description of their eyes, faces, clothes, and emotions (or lack thereof) heighten the level of pathos, likely causing the reader to feel sympathy not only for these three women, but for the destruction and loss of innocent life during World War II.
Related Themes:
