The pathos of Robert Kennedy's speech is powerful. He understands the injustice of the situation that was created in the wake of MLK's assassination. For this reason he focuses on the need for revenge that most blacks and civil rights activists were probably feeling at this time. He uses images of a polarized America with blacks hating whites and vice versa. He points out that the man who had just died sacrificed his life for the opposite. RFK calls on America to look to the future and actively decide which direction it wants to take itself. Whether it will give in to the hateful feelings or control them as Martin Luther King must have when he fought racism and injustice. Robert Kennedy reminds the audience that his brother had been recently killed and that if he himself had given into his feelings, he would not be standing where he was today. Not only his words hold emotion, but the manner in which he delivered his speech. He was obviously affected by the situation; he had to pause numerous times to regain his composure, he was also holding a handkerchief for most of the speech. His use of pathos to try to reshape his audience's feelings into once of peace and understanding may have been successful on the people there, however they fell on the deaf ears when it came to his assassin when the man shot him only months later.
-Marcus Bosche
Such a sad series of events, I wonder how the pathos of RFK's speech would have differed had he not so recently dealt with the death of his brother. Having such a personal tie to the matter of assassination definitely made him more empathetic to the cause and most likely contributed to a better speech.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting, it seems to me that the emotional connection Robert has to the subject not only provides an appeal to pathos, but also to ethos. Because he has experienced the effects of the situation first-hand, he is perceived as a more reliable source. In this way, the appeals blend together.
ReplyDelete-Corey Ferrick