The last part of the brain to develop is the frontal lobe responsible for logic. A child’s brain is still in the process of development well into adulthood. Therefore, children shouldn’t be given harsh adult sentencing even in mitigating circumstances, which is one of the things Bryan Stevenson, writer of Just Mercy argues in his novel. Stevenson uses literary techniques such a pathos and logos to advance his argument against harsh sentencing for children through the story of Charlie. Charlie is a 14-year-old boy convicted of capital murder for killing his mother’s abusive boyfriend and sentenced to life in prison.
Pathos supports Stevenson’s argument because it causes the reader to feel empathetic to what Charlie is going through. According to Stevenson, Charlie lived with his mother and her boyfriend George, who often comes home drunk and abuses her. One night George comes home drunk and punches Charlie’s mother in the face, causing her to fall and hit her head on the counter. George leaves to the bedroom where he falls asleep, while Charlie tries with all his power to stop the blood spilling from his mother’s head. Charlie notices his mother stops breathing and goes to the room to get the phone and dial 911, but instead he opens the top drawer, takes out the hand gun inside, and shoots George. To his surprise, he finds that his mother is still alive. Stevenson causes the reader to feel like they are included in that moment, because as Charlie goes into the room to dial 911, the reader begins to feel nervous not knowing what will happen to Charlie if George wakes up. The readers emotions are then filled with shock as Charlie pulls the trigger and shoots George open handedly. When Charlie discovers his mother is still alive, the reader feels a sense of relief and hope for Charlie, ultimately shaping the way the reader views Charlie. As described by Stevenson, “[Charlie] weighed less than 100 pounds and was just five feet tall. He didn’t have any juvenile criminal history- no prior arrests, no misconduct in school, no delinquencies or prior court appearances.” (117). This rhetorical strategy demonstrates to the reader that Charlie was not a threat, he was so small and skinny that he was overpowered and scared. Another way Stevenson effectively uses pathos in his writing is by making the reader relate to his emotions. Stevenson goes to visit Charlie in jail and is informed that Charlie has been sexually assaulted by men at the prison. Stevenson could do nothing in that moment but hold Charlie, recalling that “I’d never held anyone who gripped me as tightly as that child or who cried as hard or as long” (124). At this point the reader feels compassionate for Charlie. As Stevenson is leaving the jail he states, “[he] left more angry than sad” (124). Stevenson emphasizes his anger to get the reader to understand his argument that a child should not be given adult sentencing let alone placed in an adult prison.
Bryan Stevenson’s effective use of logos is seen throughout chapter six, and helps to provide logical reasoning that supports Charlie’s form of self-defense. Out of the safety of him and his mother, Charlie shoots George. As described in the book, “He looked at George and squeezed his eyes closed; it was horrible. He could feel himself starting to tremble again.” (119). Charlie saw George as a threat and he was also feeling more emotional because he thought his mom was dead. Charlie’s inability to protect his mom from George’s extreme abuse provoked his fight or flight instinct to go straight to the drawer and shoot George. In addition, another piece of logical reasoning to prove Stevenson’s argument is the status of George. To explain this point Stevenson states, “It was only when I continued reading that I discovered that George was a local police officer.” (120). Its logical to believe the court was bias in favor of George because he was a cop. The court ignored all the evidence provided by Stevenson because they felt George served in honor for his community and was “heartlessly” killed by Charlie. Furthermore, Stevenson uses logos to raise awareness of the compelling prison system. For instance, “Alabama has more juveniles sentenced to death per capita than any other state- or any other country” (115). Stevenson educates about the prison system which is appealing to the readers. Furthermore, another piece of logical reasoning to prove Stevenson’s argument is the status of George.
Although Stevenson effectively argues that children should not face harsh prison sentencing, through deep analyzation it becomes clear that there is some bias with his justifications. Stevenson discusses the harsh prison sentences children are facing, however most of the cases he brings up are based in Alabama. Stevenson has no other similar cases in other states that would further back up his claims. One may also say that Stevenson was bias towards Charlie because he doesn’t discuss the way others may have viewed the incident. For instance, some may feel that George was sleeping, so Charlie may not necessarily have needed to shoot him to defend himself. Stevenson also felt an emotional connection to Charlie after he met him in jail which may have caused him to not look at the from another perspective. Stevenson has an effective argument; however, these are things that could have been fixed to make the argument stronger.
Ultimately, Bryan Stevenson utilizes pathos and logos to effectively argue against harsh sentencing through chapter six. He uses the story of Charlie, an innocent fourteen-year old boy wrongly sentenced for his form of self-defense. Logos provides the reader with logical reasoning for why Charlie’s case is completely mishandled, and logic that supports his opposition toward harsh sentencing for children. Pathos appeals to the reader’s empathetic emotions, and makes the reader feel included in the moment. Although Stevenson displays some bias throughout the whole chapter, he argues effectively with the support of pathos and logos.
Works Cited
Stevenson, Bryan, author. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2014. Print.