A Time to Kill

Sometimes the littlest things people say can change a persons point of view on a whole situation. The attorney, Mr. Brigance, chose wise words when he made the jury imagine the little African American girl as white. It touched more hearts when they pictured their own daughter as the victim. In the movie, A Time to Kill, a little innocent girl was raped and beaten to a pulp. Carl Lee made it clear that he wanted to get back at the rapists. After this speech, everyone agreed with what he did.

This speech opened a lot of people eyes. At first everyone automatically looked at Carl as guilty because of his color. A case pf prejudice. Not until the attorney made everyone think of their own daughters in this situation, did they really listen to what he was saying. The speech changed their point of view on Carl Lee. It made them realize why he shot those awful men.

Logos refers to the clarity of the claim or the logic behind the speakers reasoning. Brigance tried to say that the jury should not punish Carl more harshly because of his color."Until we can see each other as equals, justice is never going to be evenhanded." (A Time to Kill). Every man in the room knew that they would have done the same thing, and they wouldn't have gotten ridiculed for it. He proceeded to tell the story about what happened to the little girl so that they would picture how awful she got it and put themselves in the fathers situation. He knew that they weren't as appalled by it because it happened to an African American girl. So he proceeds with saying, "Now imagine shes white." (A Time to Kill). He says this so that they would take a step back and realize that if it was their own daughter they would seek justice, just as Carl did, and everyone would support them. Carl Lee deserved the same treatment, regardless of color.

Ethos is the way the speaker makes the people respect him, and want to listen. Brigance believed that the people would not listen to him because he was a lawyer and they thought all he wanted was the money. He had to prove that the theory was wrong. "I had a great summation all worked out- But I'm not going to read