Ethos, Logos, and Pathos: Rhetorical

Ethos, logos, and pathos: rhetorical analysis on Arthur Conan Doyle's "Silver Blaze" and Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders at the Rue Morgue" Sherlock Holmes and Auguste Dupin Nineteenth century literature gave birth to the genre of mystery and detective story-telling, set by the poet and writer Edgar Allan Poe, popularized through his character, Auguste Dupin.

Associated with Conan Doyle's fictional detective character, the well-known Sherlock Holmes, Dupin was considered the first detective character that showed the disciplines of deduction and logical thinking in solving the mysteries and crimes that plague society, specifically French society, in which Poe's Dupin mysteries were set. Similarly, Doyle's Sherlock Holmes exhibit similar characteristics as Dupin's -- that is, belief in the 'art of deduction,' logical thinking, and scientific method of inquiry and observation.

This paper looks into the arguments presented by Poe and Doyle in solving the cases and mysteries in their stories featuring the detectives Dupin and Holmes, respectively. More specifically, the comparative analysis of Poe and Doyle's literary works are based on their use of stereotyping and pattern-formation (logos), ethos and establishment of pathos as rhetorical techniques in which they provide sound and logically correct and accurate mystery cases.

In the texts that follow, focus is given on the use of the three rhetorical elements (ethos, logos, and pathos) in developing and eventually presenting the solution to the mystery cases "The murders at the Rue Morgue" and "Silver Blaze," written by Poe and Doyle, respectively. Pathos was created in both stories through the characters of Dupin and Holmes. Their reputation as esteemed detectives not only in the civil society but to the police enforcement as well had given their arguments credibility and their methods validity to the reader.

Dupin's character was portrayed in the most eccentric light as possible by Poe, perhaps giving him a single commonality with the readers through his poverty. Poe described Dupin as an individual having a "peculiar analytic ability," a person who "take an eager delight in its exercise...and did not hesitate to confess the pleasure thus derived" (Poe, 1964:119). 'Peculiar' being the operative term by which Dupin was best described, Poe created an air of mystery to the detective's personality.

As mentioned earlier, the writer also attempted to create a connection between Dupin and the readers by giving him one affliction, and this was his descent to poverty as a result of his preoccupation with knowledge rather than profit-making and maintaining his wealth. Doyle applied a similar technique when describing and establishing Holmes' credibility as a detective. In proving Holmes credible to solve the mysteries of English society, Doyle also utilized the character of eccentricity as the most salient points of Holmes' character. As Dr.

Watson have characterized him early on in the short story "Silver Blaze," the detective assumed a most peculiar stance while thinking over the latest mystery case that he encountered: "For a whole day my companion had rambled about the room with his chin upon his chest and his brows knitted, charging and recharging his pipe with the strongest black tobacco, and absolutely deaf to any of my questions or remarks" (Doyle, 1986:455).

One thing that the presence of ethos in Poe and Doyle's characterization of their detectives show the readers is that despite being low profile citizens of their society, preferring to solve their cases without exposure to the print media or to the public, both Dupin and Holmes are eccentric and peculiar to people in that they prefer to be alone and become themselves while solving a case or mystery.

The almost un-human personalities of the two men both endear and detach them from the readers, maintaining a certain level of respect and awe while at the same time believing that like the readers, they are just human beings who have their own weaknesses (Dupin his poverty, Holmes his addiction to cocaine). Apart from ethos, part of Dupin and Holmes' rhetoric in solving their mysteries was a discussion of the theories they formulated and applied in the course of investigating the case.

Logos was apparent in the detectives' use of deduction, logical thinking, and the scientific method in looking for clues and solving the mystery presented to them. Their usage of stereotyping and pattern formation as their techniques for clue generation were the closest examples and illustrations of the concepts of deduction, logical thinking, and scientific method in Poe and Doyle's stories. Dupin's solution to the murders at the Rue Morgue was based on a stereotype and pattern found in the facts available about the case.

Pattern formation was apparent in his analysis of the witnesses' accounts of the events before, during, and after the murder. His discovery that each witness's testimony reflected the fact that "[e]ach likens it (the voice heard) -- not to the voice of an individual of any nation...but the converse," a point that led him to conclude that the murderer was of an 'alien' nature, someone who does not speak the language of any of the nationalities of the witnesses (133).

Stereotypes pertaining to a ribbon commonly used by sailors on Maltese vessels gave way to the discovery of another suspect, the sailor who actually owns the orangutan (the murderer) (143). Holmes also relied on stereotyping as his way of identifying Straker's motive for hurting Silver Blaze. Stating that "men do not carry other people's bills about in their pockets," he had used this stereotypical characteristic to know what made Straker resort to a.