Rhetorical Devices Used in the Closing Speech of the Trial In To Kill a Mockingbird

The movie To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in a small 1930s Alabama town, in which a black servant named Tom Robinson has been wrongfully accused of rape by 19 year old Mayella Ewell. Although Ewell is extremely poor, her name carries a lot of prestige within the town. The narrator’s father, Mr. Atticus Finch, is appointed to be Robinson’s court mandated defending lawyer. Contrary to public expectations, Mr. Finch chooses to put forth effort into proving his innocence due to his own morals. In his closing speech, he reviews the compiled evidence, expresses his own feelings toward the conditions of Mayella Ewell, and calls out the strategies of the prosectuion to convince the jury that Robinson is innocent, ultimately persuading them to rule Robinson as innocent. Finch first reviews over the only piece of evidence to logically explain why Robinson could not have committed the accussed crime. He asserts, “ Tom Robinson now sits before you, having taken "The Oath" with the only good hand he possesses -- his right.” By choosing to demonstrate Robinson’s dominant hand to the time he took “The Oath”, Finch creates an image that aligns Robinson with the law. This statement also logically proves that Robinson was not the one who hit Mayella. It would be impossible for Robinson to cause a left handed injury on Mayella’s face due to his own injury. Unlike the testimonies which, despite the Oath, can be falsified, this is the only piece of concrete evidence present in this case. By repeating this information, Finch attempts to make it clear to the jury that the only logical decision is that Robinson is innocent. This objective evidence also accuses the jury for being biased toward their internalized associations if they would choose to rule that Rombinson was guilty, which Finch brings attention to later. Next, Finch explains Mayella’s situation in order to show that he too is a person and isn’t just trying to put others down. He says, “But, my pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man's life at stake, which she has done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt.” Expressing that he feels pity towards Ewell’s situation shows that, despite the situation, he is receptive of her feelings. This establishes him as an understanding human being, which further emphasizes the heaviness of the situation - the idea that even a decent person was unable to justify this situation shows that it is inexcusably bad. Finch also properly expresses that a “man’s life [is] at stake.” Most jury members would think to their decision as either guilty or innocent, and not as alive or dead. Laying out the situation plainly shows what is at stake for Robinson and creates a heavier gravity toward the situation, prompting the jury to think twice about their decision. In addition, laying out the situation plainly in one continued speech, rather than the broken up examinations of the witnesses, makes it more clear as to what happened for the jury. Finch then accuses the prosecution of relying on the systemic racism of the general population in order to create a sense of guilt and shame. He says, “The witnesses for the State, with the exception of the sheriff of Lincoln County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen -- to this Court -- in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted.” He refers to the jury as “you gentlemen”, creating a sense of respect and trust towards them. There is also a slight implication of closeness, which creates the feeling that Finch trusts the jury to do what is morally correct. He also characterizes the prosecution as being “cynical”, or self motivated, and that they (the prosecution) expect the jury to fall for their tricks. In doing so, Finch creates juxtaposition between his characterization of the jury and the prosecution’s characterization of the jury, giving the jury yet another reason to decide in favor of Robinson. Finch is also calling into light the racism that is prevalent in this small southern state, creating a feeling of shame for the jurors that he knows would rule guilty solely on their prejudices. This message extends to the general public watching this movie as well, which was released during the 1960s at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. It creates a sense of guilt for the many people in real life at the time that may have sided with Mr. Finch during the movie, but didn’t feel similarly for the events around them. Ultimately, Mr. Finch aims to make the jury see “past” color and create a ruling based on logical evidence and fairness. Although the jury ends up ruling guilty, it was only after hours of deliberation - showing a step forward in right direction for the future of America.