A Peaceful Nation
Mohandas Gandhi’s name rings throughout the ears of all mankind as a chime of equality, peace, and tolerance. Gandhi vehemently believed that all people should have equal rights. As General Smut of the British Empire infringes on the Indian’s rights by enforcing a newly created racist regime, Gandhi spreads awareness of civil disobedience toward the Indian National Congress. Civil disobedience is the peaceful protest of political laws, taxes, or fines. Gandhi successfully encourages his Indian people to incorporate the policy of civil disobedience by appealing to the people’s collective feelings of anger and the need to resist, acting as a credible source from his understanding of the political sphere due to previous experiences, and by offering the people a logical way to resist without repercussions. Gandhi’s nonviolence speech to the Indian National Congress is given in order to spread awareness of the possibilities of resisting against the racist infringement of the British Empire against the Indians while completely disregarding violence. From the audience’s point of view, Gandhi is well known and respected as a political figure supporting India. In the audience, there are vital figures representing India, such as political figureheads, members of congress, and simply residents of India. This wide diversity of audience members forces Gandhi to create a speech which appeals to a broad spectrum of viewers. Most of the speech-viewers support Gandhi and are eager to implement his ideas, however, many members of the audience begin the speech feeling doubtful. As Gandhi delivers his speech, the audience is so enthralled that they begin to interact with Gandhi, either crying out from the hypocrisy that is the new regime implemented by General Smut, or even offering new ideas; “Kill a few officials before they disgrace one Indian woman! Then, they might think twice about such laws!” cries one audience member. As the speech continues, audience members are enthralled by the wise words of Gandhi, who speaks from the same oppressed place that the audience members are currently in. This aspect is how Gandhi gains the ethos, or credibility, of the audience members. Gandhi, similarly to the audience, is being oppressed firsthand by the British Empire. Indians of the area are stripped of almost every humane right. Gandhi expresses this to the audience pointedly. It is because of his clearly peaceful intentions, experience in the political sphere, and positive relationships with the Indian people which gives Gandhi his high credibility. “I want to welcome you all. Every one of you. We have no secrets,” Gandhi begins his speech. This introduction welcomes all listeners into an honest, pointed speech. Prior to this speech, Mohandas had spent weeks working with members and followers of the Indian National Congress, understanding and aiding in their day-to- day lives. By the delivery of this speech, Mohandas is a well known and respected figure to most of the audience. Gandhi’s credibility stems not only from this, but also from his travels over the vast lands of India. Mohandas refers to his audience kindly throughout the speech, speaking as a “we” and mentioning towards the audience as his “brothers”, furthering his ethos appeal. Gandhi speaks, “We are Hindu and Muslim, children of God, each one of us” (Gandhi). From this simple sentence, the audience immediately feels a sense of connectedness and community. The audience can see themselves in Gandhi, as he himself is a family-oriented, hardworking Indian man who is being oppressed. As this credibility is established, Gandhi moves forward into capturing the audience's sense of logic. Even though Gandhi’s protest speech is strongly influenced by emotions and beliefs, he still finds a way of working in logos. Gandhi begins his speech, “Let us begin by being clear about General Smut’s new law. All Indians must now be fingerprinted – like criminals. Men and women. No