Jaylinn Solis

14 October 2019

Rhetorical Analysis

“You can’t understand most of the important things from a distance, Bryan. You have to

get close” (14). Towards the beginning of the book Bryan Stevenson receives advice from his

grandmother, which proves that Stevenson wants readers to look closer in order to see the issues

with death row inmates. Bryan Stevenson uses rhetorical elements in his book, ​Just Mercy​,

allows the reader to see past the outside injustices and see the real meaning about why an unjust

system is a flawed system. The book is written as a narration of events, while also using

examples, and even using description to add more detail and depth to his stories. Stevenson

allows the reader to feel the pain, to feel in someone’s shoes, to feel for the people on death row,

so that it’s not something that can be put off. One of his biggest points is to help take away that

aura that surrounds inmates on death row and how they are all there because they deserve to be

sentenced to death. Bryan Stevenson argues throughout the book, that the death penalty is cruel

and should not even be used through using the rhetorical devices of narration, description, and

examples.

One of the main ways that Stevenson makes his claim is through the use of emotional

appeal. Throughout the book, Stevenson tells stories of the inmates he has represented and even

goes in depth into how they shaped his life for the better. Herbert Richardson was one of

Stevenson’s clients who had mental health problems due to war, he had committed a terrible

mistake which he regretted immediately. The backstory for Herbert, and the reason why he was
on death row, was that when he came back from war, he got a girlfriend but with the trauma he

had suffered he became uncontrollable. His girlfriend ran away but he was obsessed with trying

to regain her love, so he came up with the idea that he would put a bomb outside of her house

and wait for her to go outside and detonate it so that he could come in and save her like a hero

that way she would fall back in love with him. His mental health issues interfered with him

thinking through his plan correctly because obviously this is not a way to gain someone’s love

back. He still went through his plan by leaving the bomb on what he thought was his girlfriend’s

porch, instead of his girlfriend, an 11 year-old girl and her auntie came out and detonated the

bomb causing the death of the little girl. Herbert was sentenced to the death penalty. Stevenson

introduced Herbert with his back story, not as a killing machine. He gave Herbert a heart before

going into the mistake that was made. It allows the reader to have compassion. By showing this

side of Herbert, Stevenson is further supporting his quote at the beginning of the book where he

states, “Proximity has taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson:

Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” (17). This quote is saying that people

should see others for who they really are, not for their one mistake that led them to prison.

People are people and they should be treated as such. The quote further proves the argument the

Stevenson uses emotional appeal to make a rhetorical claim, he wants the reader to become

endeared with Herbert, to get closer to him. The proximity that Stevenson wants is for us to feel

for Herbert and to feel that when sentencing someone to death, not only does that person lose

their life, other people also lose a father, brother, or even husband. Stevenson wants others to see

that inmates are seen as bad people when in reality no one is. It puts more emphasis on the fact
that inmates are worthy of the love and respect everyone else receives, and they are human

beings that made a mistake.

Stevenson uses emotional appeal in more that one way, throughout the novel by using

love and a touch of storytelling that allows people to go into someone else’s shoes. The way he

uses this is when he talks about a 14 years old boy and how he ended up in prison and suffered

from it. Charlie was 14 years old when he was sent to jail for killing his mother’s abusive

boyfriend. When first meeting Charlie he comes off as a cold hearted person because he doesn’t

speak or even look at people when they have conversations. After trying different approaches,

Stevenson states, ”I took a chance and put my arm around him, and he immediately began to

shake. His trembling completely intensified before he finally leaned completely into me and

started crying. I put my head on his and said, “it’s okay, it’s all right” He was sobbing when he

finally spoke.” (123). The story of Charlie is further added upon because of the fact that he

makes people feel compassion for the child. Bryan uses rhetorical elements to go deeper into

Charlie’s story. The story itself is already touching but people may just brush it off because they

think they can’t do anything, the story shows how any sort of little affection goes a long way.

Bryan says that people have walked up to him when he talks about Charlie, they ask how they

can help, they feel so moved by the story of Charlie that instead of just brushing it off, they want

to help in every way possible so that Charlie can feel the love. Stevenson takes us closer, not just

on the outside, he allows us to see the world from the insider perspective.

Stevenson’s use of rhetorical elements throughout the book adds to the stories because it

allows for all kinds of people to look deeper into the issues with the death penalty. Stevenson

allows people to feel the pain that the inmates go through. He doesn’t just allow that emotion, he
gives others the tools to feel compassion to feel that there is an injustice going on and that there

is hope for the inmates. Throughout the book there are stories about inmates that contribute to

the emotional appeal that Stevenson using in order for us to see closer, to pay attention to the

little things in order to fix the bigger issue.

Citations:

Stevenson, Bryan. ​Just Mercy: a True Story of the Fight for Justice​. Delacorte Press, 2018.