The picture of the train station on our blog is one of the dozens of stations people gathered at when Robert F. Kennedy's body was transported by train down from New York City. It was there that he was assassinated on June 5th of 1968. This picture, as well as the others, represents the extreme ethos that RFK must have possessed. If you look closely, you will notice a range of people at the station: white, black, young, old, etc. RFK's ability to reach across demographic lines and bring these people together wasn't just because of his political views, it was because of the passion and loyalty he brought out in people. Their trust in him won him a seat in Senate and may have won him the presidency. Another point worth noting is that the people at this station aren't dignitaries from other countries or government officials. The people in that picture are the everyday citizens of America. They aren't obligated to be there. They are there because they believed in the man on that train. That is the essence of ethos. Even after his death, he was still inspiring people in ways politicians today cannot.
-Marcus Bosche
You did a good job emphasizing the "average Joe's" love and respect for RFK. It was certainly rare in the 60s to find such a large variety of people come together to mourn over one person. It's obvious how much RFK impacted these people's lives.
ReplyDelete-Christina Atchison
People today still gather for important political events such as inaugurations. While it is true that politicians today do not seem to inspire as wide of a range of people, some of them are still able to impact their supports in significant ways.
ReplyDeleteYou make a very good point about RFK's ability to bring the people, no matter what their race, together. You do not, however, mention explicitly the purpose of the photograph....maybe it's not necessary or maybe it's coming in your next blog posts. I think the photographer intended to show how great of a loss RFK's death was to the US. He does by representing RFK as a uniting force using ethos, as he shows common people, irrespective of race or gender, mourning his death.
ReplyDeleteI especially agree with what you said about RFK being able to "inspire" people even after his death. To me, a man who can sway people's emotions even without a living body is someone who is a true master of the ethos side of rhetoric.
ReplyDelete