A Rhetorical Analysis Of Jack Shephard's White Rabbit

From 2004-2010 there was a show on ABC called “Lost”. You have most likely heard of it, and maybe even watched it on Netflix as it is a hit on there. However, I am able to say I watched this show while it was running, and it is my favorite show since I watched it growing up. The show revolves around a group of mostly strangers that were on a plane that crashed on a random, deserted island somewhere between Sydney, Australia and Los Angeles, California. In the fifth episode of the show (“White Rabbit”), the main character, Jack Shephard, delivers a moving speech to the rest of group on the island, the target audience in this case. The rhetorical situation Jack that brings across is the fact that they had not been rescued for six days, and they
He yelled and got everyone on the camp’s attention, which halted the argument. He opened the speech by reminding everyone that they have been on the island for six days and there is still no sign of anyone off the island even knowing they crashed. Jack states, “we’ve been waiting…. Waiting for someone to come. But what if they don’t”, which is a good use of rhetoric. Jack uses logos when he says, “Every man for himself is not going to work. It’s time to start organizing. We need to figure out how we are going to survive here”, because he persuades by the use of logic. While everyone else is turning against each other, Jack makes the logical point that they have to come up with a system. Jack uses the pathos appeal at the end of the speech when he says, “if we can’t leave together…… we’re gonna die alone.” This is clearly an appeal to the emotions of the people on camp because no one wants to die and Jack definitely hits home when he chooses to close the speech that way. Jack’s speech also may use some ethos because he is the respected leader of the group and most people believe he is credible. However, Jack’s speech is more on the pathos and logos side of