Brutus and Booth-Noble Purgers Throughout history, people have sacrificed their lives, reputations, and honor to do what they believe is just, regardless of what others think. John Wilkes Booth, the assassin that killed President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 has been viewed as a traitor throughout American history; however, in Booth’s eyes, he was saving a nation from the injustices of an unfit leader. Similarly, the fictional character Brutus in the Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar murdered his close friend, the Roman emperor Caesar, to uphold the Roman Republic. Brutus and Booth may be murderers, but they show their honorable intentions and selfless character traits through their effective use of logos and ethos. Brutus is a logical and noble …show more content…
Booth was part of a conspiracy to kill Lincoln, and after shooting him, he stated in his diary, “Our country owed all her troubles to him, and God simply made me the instrument of punishment” (Booth). This statement shows the duty that Booth felt towards protecting the integrity of the nation he previously loved. Booth sees himself as purifying the nation, punishing Lincoln for forcing a union upon a divided country. Booth personifies the country by referring to the it using the female pronoun “her”; this creates the idea that the country is a victim. At the time when Booth wrote his last diary entry, women were often considered weak and helpless and therefore the feminization of the country creates logical reasoning to be avenged and protected from evils. Booth only wanted to take care of a country that had been wronged, and he shows his honorable intentions again in the lines, “I hoped for no gain. I knew no private wrong. I struck for my country and that alone” (Booth). The parallel structure of these statements show a conviction and truth behind them. There is no hesitation; the verbs are strong and clearly stated, proving that Booth wanted to obviously declare why he killed Lincoln. He blatantly says why he murdered, leaving no room for misinterpretation. If anything, Booth sacrificed more than he could have gained by the assassination.; he would …show more content…
Both of the deceased leaders, Caesar and Lincoln, were well loved by many, and so the initial reaction of the public was to misunderstand the murderer’s intentions and feel only loss and hatred. Brutus, a prominent member of the Senate and a dear friend of Caesar’s, reminds the Plebeians of his relationship with Caesar. Brutus said, “not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” declaring that he sympathizes with the Plebeians hurting and loss because he too lost a loved one (Shakespeare 45). By establishing the loving relationship between Caesar and Brutus, Brutus relates himself to a beloved leader; this carries those attributes that Caesar was loved for upon Brutus. Brutus is already well-known throughout Rome, and can easily gain respect since he had it from the public at one point. Booth however, is unknown to the vast population of the United States who are impacted by Lincoln's death. He uses religion to convince them that he has strong morals and is a generally good person. For example, in the line, “I have too great a soul to die like a criminal. Oh, may He, may He spare me that, and let me die bravely” he asks God for forgiveness. Booth begs for God’s mercy, establishing that he is a religious and virtuous man, and he knows that murder is wrong. Booth
He was also upset that President Lincoln got rid of slavery. Booth wasn’t the only one who knew that Lincoln’s death was near. He told his companion David Herold, the plan as well. Booth told Herold his horrific plan on the night of Lincoln’s last speech, on April 11, 1865. Booth got his hands on a letter that said President Lincoln would be
Northerners, who were celebrating the defeat of the Confederate army, wanted a speech from Lincoln. However, Lincoln was “in no mood to speak” (89). In the meantime, John Wilkes Booth, is now furious over the south’s defeat. “It crushes Booth to think that the South has lost. He shuts the idea out of his mind.
His cause was lost and his dreams of glory over. " This shows that the only thing that Booth looked forward to was dead and this made Booth depressed. Finally the author shows how Booth was able to get news that Lincoln was going to Booth's favorite theater, and that Booth knew the entire theater, and planned. The story says, "There had been no time to mail it, so its sender, First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, had used the president’s messenger to hand-deliver it to the owners of Ford’s Theater.
Brutus, the mastermind behind Caesar’s assassination, did not believe Caesar has the right ambition. Although he respected and loved Caesar, he questioned Caesar’s intentions. Brutus, a well-known Roman, assassinated Caesar out of the good of Rome. Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, murdered Lincoln to relieve America of the best chance for social equality. Booth, like Brutus, was also well known in his community.
Brutus assassinated Caesar, what? two thousand years ago, and here’s a high school drop-out with a twenty-five and hour job in Dallas, Texas who knows who he was. And they say fame isn’t fleeting…” Booth is trying to explain to Oswald that instead of killing himself and becoming his own victim, to kill the heart of
Although John Wilkes Booth committed an awful crime, he took a huge stand by assassinating President Abraham Lincoln and changed the course of U.S. history forever. This tragic event happened at a very important point in history. The Civil War had been raging since 1861, resulting in the loss of thousands of Americans and further splitting the country in half. On April 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee surrendered the last of the Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, ending the Civil War. The union was thrilled.
Seward. In his address, President Lincoln took a piece from the Declaration of Independence, “ dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”, as well as a desire “ a new birth of freedom. While attending the play “ My American Cousin”, accompanied with his wife, Mary Todd, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln . This came five days after the surrender of General Lee ending the war. Booth believed that murdering President Lincoln would give the south a chance of turning the war around.
According to the “Last Diary Entry of John Wilkes Booth”, it says “ I am in despair, and why? For doing what Brutus was honored for.” This is booth talking about how he took down a “tyrant” like Brutus did, but is being shown no forgiveness. Booth also says “ And yet I, for striking down a greater tyrant, am looked upon as a common cutthroat.” saying yet again, he is looked at like a murderer and not a hero.
Abraham Lincoln could be considered a hero that saved a broken nation. However, one person in particular didn’t think so. In fact, that person despised him so much that he killed him. John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer, shot the president of the United States on April 14, 1865, while watching a play at Ford’s Theatre. John Parker, the security guard on duty, lunged at Booth right after the fire, but he lept from the balcony where Lincoln’s seat was and ran into the night on horseback.
“Revenge for the South” Is what Booth said after he shot Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was shot on April 14th, 1865 at around 10:15 pm at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C.. John F. Parker was assigned to be the bodyguard/security for the president's box that night but left because he felt the president was safe. George Atzerodt was in on the plan but then changed his mind because he didn’t want to kill anyone. John Wilkes Booth is guilty of first-degree murder because he was the only person present on the night of the assassination and was plotting to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward.
People’s choices decide if history will view them as a martyr or a murder. Both Caesar and Abraham Lincoln are considered martyrs by history. As Lincoln had just won the Civil War and Caesar had just defeated Pompey, they were well liked at the time. But almost immediately after these events Brutus and J.W Booth subsequently killed them due to their belief that they were doing what was right for the nation and because they felt pressure from their past, therefore while some differences between Brutus and Booth are evident, the similarities are prominent.
As stated here, "But he also wanted to initiate the uneasy task of bringing the all but defeated South back into the new, more improved Union" ("Abraham Lincoln Biography"). The South hardly had any stamina left. They were hanging on, but barely. Nothing was going to help them. Booth shooting Lincoln didn't help, because even though the South hadn't admitted defeat, they had done everything but.
After reading excerpts from Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, write an essay that compares Brutus’ speech with Marc Antony’s speech and argues the effectiveness of the rhetorical devices (ethos, pathos, logos) used in each. Be sure to support your position with evidence from the texts. William Shakespeare writes a play about Julius Caesar’s assassination and the speeches his friends gave at his funeral. In the play, Brutus assassinated Caesar because he thought he was protecting Rome. He was saying that if Caesar got all the power he would most likely become vicious and make everyone his slaves.
He had originally planned to kidnap Lincoln and trade him for the Southern soldiers in prison, but Lincoln didn’t show up where they thought he would. Because that kidnapping plot failed, he decided to go more extreme and kill him instead. In the text it says, “Frustrated at seeing his plot foiled, Booth resolved to go to a far greater extreme.” He also decided to have his friends assassinate the Secretary of State and the Vice President.
Marcus Junius Brutus and Mark Antony both deliver speeches to justify the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE and both use Logos and Ethos to convince the Roman citizens to join their sides. Both sides deliver their speeches with vehemence and start by elucidating why Brutus killed Caesar to begin with, why Antony’s desire for revenge is justified, and what the future of Rome will be because of his death. Antony teases the citizens of Rome with the will of Caesar that he holds in hand and claims it will dishonor Brutus and the other conspirators and is also one of his vital uses of Ethos in his speech. Most of the citizens, if not all of them side with Antony and will most likely help him accede to a great title of power in the future and also betray Brutus because of what Antony has them believe, i.e. an ignoble assassin. Brutus and Antony 's speeches were both compelling, although Antony´s speech was more successful, but it is because he was able to manipulate the people of Rome with