Empathy In The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck

Empathy is when people feel sympathy or compassion for another person through novels, articles, photographs, or speeches that the author evokes through personal examples or bold word choice. For example, when you read a novel where the main character dies, the author uses precise word choice to make you feel bad for the characters in the story. “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck and Robert Kennedy’s speech on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., both evoke empathy in many different ways. Empathy can be portrayed in many different ways, some being more persuasive than others. Although John Steinbeck’s excerpt evokes strong empathy to some readers, Robert Kennedy’s use of personal examples and bold word choices extracts empathy from …show more content…
One example is by using the elements of rhetoric ethos, logos, pathos, or emotion, logic, credibility. Robert Kennedy uses this effectively throughout his speech. For example, Kennedy demonstrates the use of emotion in this quote. “I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling” (Kennedy). To many readers, using personal examples from the author in the writing can make people feel connected to the writer and even relate to it and the author. This quote demonstrates logic, “...you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge” (Kennedy). This quote demonstrates logic very well and strongly because in this situation, it is very logical to feel hatred and bitterness after the tragedy that not only the blacks feel to the whites, but the whole country has to go through in this “difficult time.” In conclusion, Robert Kennedy’s speech portrays a great amount of empathy and compassion by him using strong words and certain elements of rhetoric to evoke …show more content…
These are some quotes that support this statement. “‘F we sell bread we gonna run out” Mae’s tone was faltering” (Steinbeck). The line “Mae’s tone was faltering” does not evoke empathy to the reader as well because by using the word “faltering”, it sounds like Mae doesn’t care about how the characters are in need of food and money, as well as food. “I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling” (Kennedy). For most people and readers, the use of personal experiences and opinions throughout a text help the reader connect to the author and to feel empathy and compassion more than without them. In conclusion, most readers enjoy the novel or speech and empathize more when personal experiences are included throughout the