On May 12, 1962, General Douglas MacArthur addressed the cadets at the West Point Military Academy in his speech Duty, Honor, Country, during the reception for the Sylvanus Thayer Award. This award is given to an “…outstanding citizen of the United States whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exemplify personal devotion to the ideals expressed in the West Point motto, duty, honor, country.” As the one receiving this prestigious award, General MacArthur truly exemplified these values as he had acquired the rank of General of the Armed Forces while serving in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. Within the speech Duty, Honor, Country, MacArthur utilizes logos, pathos, and ethos in order to appeal to the cadets and instill upon them the importance of these three words during their service to the United States of America.
Who can argue with logic? No one? This must be why General MacArthur uses it within his address to the cadets at the West Point Military Academy during the award ceremony for the Thayer Award. MacArthur’s use of logos can be seen within the following phrase, “We speak in strange terms: of harnessing the cosmic energy; of making winds and tides work for us; of creating unheard synthetic materials to supplement or even replace our old standard basics; to purify sea water for our drink…of ultimate conflict between a united human race and the sinister forces of some other planetary galaxy; of such dreams and fantasies as to make life the most exciting of all time. And through all this welter of change and development, your mission remains fixed, determined, inviolable: it is to win our wars.” The logic behind this phrase is that despite all the changes that may occur during a soldiers life one thing is consistent as it should be and that is their duty to protect the United States of America from all harm that may befall it. Within the speech Duty, Honor, Country the use of logos plays a quaint role to establish the role of the soldier in the American society.
The use of pathos within any speech can be a very effective tool for a speaker, as seen in General Douglas MacArthur’s speech Duty, Honor, Country. His primary usage of pathos can be seen in his guarantee of betterment under the circumstances that the cadets maintain the values instilled in them by the West Point Military Academy. This promise of gain can be seen in MacArthur’s phrase, “Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be.” MacArthur’s use of pathos is emphasized primarily through the use of anaphora in order to create a sense of repetition as to where the cadets are beginning and where they will be in the future if they follow the motto instilled within them by the West Point Military Academy. MacArthur can also be seen appealing to the religious aspect of the cadets in attendance as he says, “In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those divine attributes which his Maker gave when he created man in his own image. No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of the Divine help which alone can sustain him.” This draws upon the religious ties of the cadets in order to dispel any fears they may have of battle. There are also aspects of fear tied to MacArthur’s use of pathos as can be seen in the phrase, “The Long Gray Line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country.” This appears to instill a sense of fear upon the young cadets to fail this mighty charge, as MacArthur’s imagery rich metaphor of the spirits of past soldiers rising in order to thunder the mantra of duty, honor, and country to the cadets who fail to uphold these values. MacArthur can also be seen instilling this fear of failure in the phrase, “Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory; that if you lose, the nation will be destroyed; that the very obsession of your public service must be: Duty, Honor, Country.” A very emotional speech, Duty, Honor, Country appears to be General Douglas MacArthur’s final salute to the United States military and the young cadets that are being charged with the safety of the United States of America.
Ethos is a major aspect of General Douglas MacArthur’s speech as he was a prominent military figure who had not only endured, but prospered during multiple wars under the values instilled within him at the West Point Military Academy and wished to pass these same values onto the cadets listening to him on that prominent day. In the speech Duty, Honor, Country General MacArthur uses ethos through his use of personal experience and credentials in order to show that he too has been in the same position as the cadets there that day and that by upholding the values instilled in him during his time at West Point he had managed to become the man he was. By doing this MacArthur is able to associate with his audience as can be seen in the following quote, “But this award is not intended primarily to honor a personality, but to symbolize a great moral code -- the code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of culture and ancient descent…For all eyes and for all time, it is an expression of the ethics of the American soldier. That I should be integrated in this way with so noble an ideal arouses a sense of pride and yet of humility which will be with me always” A speech bears no weight without a relationship to the audience, which is why ethos is one of the most prominently used literary elements within General Douglas MacArthur’s speech Duty, Honor, Country.
General Douglas MacArthur’s speech Duty, Honor, Country charges the West Point Military Academy cadets and all future soldiers with the safety of the United States of America under the mantra of duty, honor, and country. This address is contains very dominant usage of ethos, followed by pathos and logos. The usages of these literary elements show his primary method of appealing to his audience was through the use of authority closely followed by emotion. Ethos and pathos combine to form a very potent speech that addresses each and every cadet as a fellow soldier, while instilling within them the necessity for duty, honor, and country before all else. MacArthur’s address Duty, Honor, Country, packed with ethos, pathos, and logos, appeared to be his final one as he closed with, “Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country. Today marks my final roll call with you, but I want you to know that when I cross the river my last conscious thoughts will be of The Corps, and The Corps, and The Corps. I bid you farewell.”