Usually, the validity of an argument is greatly enhanced when targeted at a specific audience. Although "flattery" and "coercion" are almost outcasts from our modern vocabulary, they are nevertheless effective tools of persuasion. This is especially true when the audience in question is caught in the net of its own pride.
Through his character Odysseus, Homer points the finger of shame at the retreating Greeks, using the heated Kairos as an opportunity to stir them toward (a losing) battle once more. To the honorable captains, he said "Sirs, this flight is cowardly and unworthy." To the somewhat less free servants, his charge is more direct, "You are a coward and no soldier... we cannot all be kings." With a diss worthy of an "OH SNAP!" from every Call-of-Duty obsessed 11-year-old ever, the soldiers are shamefully called upon to question their own loyalty and honor.
It's sort of like this.
From Avatar: the Last Airbender
Homer's depiction is true-to-life. Logically, a well-planned Powerpoint Presentation with several bullet points would be an effective way to raise the rallying cry. However, human history shows that a nearly fail-safe way to get your way is to give someone's ego a black eye, whether by building up their "ideal image" or crushing it. Although several years have past, we still follow the same patterns: careful flattery of our leaders and outright intimidation of our inferiors.
Your blog post, to me, seems to harmonize nicely with what Kevin wrote. There is a heavy appeal to ethos that asks the characters to decide where their they draw their moral line. Where will they find their honor? I think I know what I will write about now :)
ReplyDeleteGiving someone's ego a black eye as you put it is the perfect way to stoke the fire to get the results you want. Again, it is this almost pre-meditated, manipulating way of keeping control and getting the results you want.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how our society hasn't really changed from the flattery mindset, and now there seems to be even more resources to do it, which kind of seems scary. I wonder what people would say of our behavior in thousands of years?
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out the rhetoric used was the same, but the decorum different. I hadn't previously considered how social classes are yet another factor to take into account.
ReplyDeleteOddly this reminds me of every time a General Authority addresses us in General Conference... they use rhetoric to remind us where our loyalties should lie, and if they're not in the right place, then they strongly encourage us (somewhat like nestor and odysseus) to realign or wills and fight for what is right.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to remember that while Homer represented how he viewed the world, that representation may not reflect reality perfectly. I think it is an assumption to say that degrading battle-hardened common soldiers would be effective at changing their minds. Even if it worked once, making people feel inferior and worthless would not have helped them become the best soldiers they were capable of being.
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