LOTF Essay- Elena Smith

Elena Smith

Ms. Pahomov  

English 2

25 March 2019

Logos, Pathos, and Decision Making

According to several studies, including one from American Nobel Laureate Dr. Herbert Simon, around 90% of the decisions humans make are based on emotion. Rather than using logic in the decision process, people use it to justify their previous actions. When influencers show up, they often use pathos―which appeals to the emotional side of people―in their speeches in order to turn people to their side. If a leader is charismatic or gives people what they think they want then there’s a higher chance that they’ll climb to the top and be elected for whatever they’re running for, even if they are not the best option for the job. In the novel The Lord of The Flies, William Golding explores how the young boys who were deserted on an island switch from following Ralph’s logic and then to Jack’s tribe when he talks about giving into emotional desires, and how they eventually come to question their decision.

When Jack kills a pig with his hunters and then hosts a bonfire with all the boys on the island, he uses the good mood as an opportunity to start a mutiny and break apart what used to be a unified front by appealing to the boys’ pathos. “‘I gave you food,’” says Jack, “‘and my hunters will protect you from the beast… Who’ll join my tribe and have fun?’” (150). Not only does Jack appeal to the side of the boys that want to have fun, but he also keys in on an important emotion: fear. By using the boys fear of an imaginary beast against them and using it to guide their decisions about the tribe, Jack wins the boys over to his side, even if nothing he says is necessarily logical. Ralph tries to regain control of the situation by bringing up logical points, “‘I’m chief because you chose me. And we were going to keep the fire going-’” (150), but logic is not a strong enough factor to keep the boys from leaving his tribe.

In comparison, Trump is infamous for using pathos in order to sway people over to his side. He mostly appeals to people’s sense of fear, specifically xenophobia, comparing immigrants to animals multiple times, referring to them as “drug dealers, criminals [and] rapists” in a speech about border control, and saying that undocumented immigrants are responsible for “thousands of Americans [brutal deaths]”. Even though statistics from ICE show that undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in America, the emotion of fear is strong enough to win him support. By using a common fear of the unknown and twisting it into xenophobia and a fear of people who are “un-american” to reach a wider audience and spread his influence, Trump was able to have almost half of the United States fall to his side when the election rolled around. Just like Jack, Trump also made promises he couldn’t necessarily keep, like promising to “build a wall and make Mexico pay for it.”. He also promises to lower taxes for the middle class and the infamous “Make America Great Again” slogan, which doesn’t even have a definitive meaning because it’s so vague. As the months went on, however, Trump supporters slowly started to realize that he was not delivering on his promises and that whatever appeal he originally had was being overshadowed by logic.

The members of Jack’s tribe begin to realize the same thing, although it happens in fits and starts instead of gradually over time. The first instance in which they realize that joining Jack might not have made logical sense is only a few minutes after they decide to join his tribe when it starts to pour rain. Ralph is quick to point it out, saying “‘Going to be a storm… who’s clever now? Where are your shelters? What are you going to do about that?’” (151). Instead of defending himself, Jack and his new tribe proceed to “look uneasily at the sky, flinching from the stroke of the drops.” (151). The second time they begin to doubt Jack is when they’re skirting around the death of Simon, the boy they brutally murdered just the night before. As some of the boys question whether it was a human or a beast they killed, Jack tries to persuade them back to his side, “‘But didn’t we, didn’t we-?’ ‘No!’ In the silence that followed, each savage flinched away from his individual memory.” (160). The hunters are faced with following Jack’s way of thinking and thinking that they attacked the beast, or with the knowledge that they killed one of their own friends. Jack’s control of his tribe continues to falter with the murder of Piggy, the hunting of Ralph and finally with the ending scene as the naval officers appear to take the boys back to civilization.

Just like Jack’s control of his group is slipping, so is Trump’s hold on Conservative America. One man on a CNN news interview has called voting for Trump “the biggest mistake” and others in the same interview have said they’re “afraid of the dictator in the White House.” Many small towns in the Midwest are now realizing that Trump is not all he promised to be. One Twitter user named Phil from Ohio said to Donald Trump: “Literally just signed up for Twitter to tell you how disappointed I am. Wasted my vote on you.” Trump promised middle class America tax breaks, stronger immigration policies, jobs and a focus on the American workforce. Instead, as the Trump presidency has gone on, he has not only failed to deliver on these promises but has created more chaos, leading to a loss of jobs. After being shown evidence and hard facts, the country is realizing that Trump is about as fit of a leader as Jack is, and they are not happy about it.

Pathos is a very important factor when people make their decisions to follow people, and most people are swayed to another person's side by their emotions. Because so many people are more emotional than rational, an easy way to get people to become followers is by appealing to one of the strongest emotions there is, fear. By making people afraid of something and then promising to protect them from that outside force, it is easy to gain a following. As they come to terms with their leader, though, they begin to realize that logically, they should not follow this person and begin to have doubts. Both Jack from Lord of the Flies and President Trump have used these methods to become leaders and have fallen from grace as their followers become more aware.

Works Cited

Belz, Dan. “Midwestern Voters Gave Trump a Chance. Now, They Hold the Key to His Political Future.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 8 May 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/trump-voters/?utm_term=.de31ce34f7a2.

Camerota, Allyson. “Man Calls Voting for Trump 'Biggest Mistake' - CNN Video.” CNN, Cable News Network, 7 Aug. 2018, www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/08/07/voter-panel-regret-vote-biggest-mistake-trump-idiot-camerota-newday-sot-vpx.cnn.

Camp, Jim. “Decisions Are Largely Emotional, Not Logical: the Neuroscience behind Decision-Making.” Big Think, Big Think, 11 June. 2011, Whitener, Svetlana. https://bigthink.com/experts-corner/decisions-are-emotional-not-logical-the-neuroscience-behind-decision-making

“'Drug Dealers, Criminals, Rapists': What Trump Thinks of Mexicans.” BBC News, BBC, 31 Aug. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/headlines/37230916/drug-dealers-criminals-rapists-what-trump-thinks-of-mexicans.

Fish, Stanley. “Donald Trump: How He Gets Away With Absurd Arguments.” Time, Time, 5 July 2016, http://time.com/4388379/donald-trump-winning-arguments/

Shoichet, Catherine E. “What 7 Statistics Tell Us about Immigration and Crime.” CNN, Cable News Network, 9 Jan. 2019, www.cnn.com/2018/11/03/us/immigrants-crime-numbers/index.html.

Heugel, Abby. “This Twitter Account Shows All of the Trump Voters Who Are Regretting Their Choice.” 22 Words, Twenty Two Words https://twentytwowords.com/this-twitter-account-is-full-of-trump-voters-who-deeply-regret-their-decision/

“How Your Emotions Influence Your Decisions .” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 9 May 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2018/05/09/how-your-emotions-influence-your-decisions/#6862a2f63fda.