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Jose Monge
Mr. Thompson
English 1301.31
November 7, 2016
Avatar Research Paper
Authors/Directors include symbolism in their books/ in order to appeal to different
emotions. These emotions can be affected through pathos, logos, and ethos. When using pathos
the author/director intends on making his/her audience feel some type of way. A reader or viewer
can feel emotions such as sadness, anger, or joy. Authors use pathos to make a reader connect
with a character, an idea, an event, or even a theme. Through logos, an author uses facts and
logic to encourage a reader or viewer to focus on one or several problems and then use their
sense of prior knowledge and logic to determine what should happen to resolve that conflict. By
using ethos, an author allows a viewer or reader to acknowledge their own specific morals and
values. Ethos determine what the author believes in, what they agree or disagree with in their
story, and eventually what theme they are trying to express. In the movie, Avatar, James
Cameron uses the symbolic ceremonial bow to create an appeal to his audience through pathos,
logos, and ethos.
As the movie moves forward and the conflict becomes more apparent, James Cameron
leaves no doubt in the audience's mind that a bloody war will be the only resolution to end this
massive problem between the humans and the Navi. Once the war begins, James Cameron puts
a strain on his audience. He forces his viewers to undergo several intense emotions. Pathos
cuases many different emotions in the audience some even unhealthy like I still dont really see
any reason to keep doing things at all. I live in a dying world. (Thomas). One specific situation
that shows this horrible feeling in the audience is the death of Eytukan. The clan leader and
father of Neytiri is fatally wounded from one of the explosions humans deployed on the home
tree. As Neytiri cries over her father's dying body, Eytukan hands her the ceremonial bow, the

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weapon used not only to hunt but to praise in Navis spiritual ceremonies. here James Cameron
used pathos in the sense that he creates the feeling of sadness in the audience because they can
just imagine their own fathers passing away, as well as getting something being given to them
that was important to their fathers. This scene is full of grief and sadness. Death, especially one
of the major heroes in the Navi race, causes the audience to become concerned of what is going
to become of the Navi race. Although this death affects the audience's heart, it also affects their
brains in a psychological manner.
The death of Eytukan affects the logical side of our brains through the use of logos
because the audience can now realize that logically, the human race is the enemy and that the
Navi are innocent and they deserve to win this tragic war. A key promise the film makes is that
violent revolution is necessary,(Worrell) as shown throughout the movie. James Cameron adds
the death of Eytukan in order to manipulate the audience into labeling the human race as
intrusive and cruel. The fact is that humans are trying to steal unobtanium from the Navi without
thinking of what kind of harm may be causing on both the natives and the planet of Pandora. By
creating a scene like this one, James Cameron creates a mood of hopelessness and fear. Logically
the audience can realize that the human race is more technologically improved and that the main
weapon such as the ceremonial bow lacks power compared to all the weapons of the humans.
Once the viewer realize that this is logical, they can realize the true values that the author is
trying to convey to his/her audience.
In the movie, Avatar, James Camerons belief that racism is evil becomes clear as the
story develops. James Cameron discretely hides his own thoughts and opinions in his movie.
Some of these ideas deal with the wrongness of racist people. In Cameron's mind, humans are
racist against those who don't act, look, or speak like they do. Cameron portrays this aggressive
behavior from humans against the Navi in order to allow the audience to acknowledge that he

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believes that these actions are morally wrong and that it should not be done. In the end this is
why James Cameron allows the Navi race to win the war of survival. Although the facts were
clear that humans had the advantages, James Cameron does not let humans destroy the Navi
race because he strongly believes that this is wrong. The movie Avatar ends in peace, harmony,
and unification because Cameron desires this in our world today and he expresses this all
throughout the movie. James Cameron behaves as if he were the embattled protagonist,
(Goodyear) which is how he expresses his feelings so well. Cameron values world peace, and the
strength in love and generations that the ceremonial bow represents.
In the movie, Avatar, the ceremonial bow becomes a symbol of survival, continuity, and
tradition. Through the passing down from and older clan leader to a new generation, James
Cameron affects the sorrow sentiments in pathos, the strength against evil logic in logos, and the
morally wrong doings of racism in ethos. By doing so James Cameron allows the theme of
preservation and tradition to emanate in his story.

Works Cited
Goodyear, Dana. "Man of Extremes." The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2009. Web. 15
Nov. 2016.
Thomas, Liz. "The Avatar Effect: Movie-goers Feel Depressed and Even Suicidal at Not Being
Able to Visit Utopian Alien Planet." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 12 Jan. 2010.
Web. 15 Nov. 2016.

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Worrell, Mark P. "The Inner Logic of Avatar." New Politics. New Politics, n.d. Web. 15 Nov.
2016.