Let’s look at an example of how a speaker’s title or status automatically brings ethos to the rhetorical situation. On September 3, 1939, King George VI gave a radio address to the British people declaring that the country was at war with Germany. The very fact that he is king gives him a certain degree of automatic ethos to speak on the subject of war, yet King George also emphasizes the shared values that unite everyone.
The King’s Speech (September 3, 1939)
King George VI
In this grave hour, perhaps the most fateful in history, I send to every household of my peoples, both at home and overseas, this message, spoken with the same depth of feeling for each one of you as if I were able to cross your threshold and speak to you myself.
For the second time in the lives of most of us, we are at war. Over and over again, we have tried to find a peaceful way out of the differences between ourselves and those who are now our enemies, but it has been in vain. We have been forced into a conflict, for we are called, with our allies to meet the challenge of a principle which, if it were to prevail, would be fatal to any civilized order in the world.
It is a principle which permits a state in the selfish pursuit of power to disregard its treaties and its solemn pledges, which sanctions the use of force or threat of force against the sovereignty and independence of other states. Such a principle, stripped of all disguise, is surely the mere primitive doctrine that might is right, and if this principle were established throughout the world, the freedom of our own country and of the whole British Commonwealth of nations would be in danger. But far more than this, the peoples of the world would be kept in bondage of fear, and all hopes of settled peace and of the security of justice and liberty among nations, would be ended.
This is the ultimate issue which confronts us. For the sake of all we ourselves hold dear, and of the world order and peace, it is unthinkable that we should refuse to meet the challenge.
It is to this high purpose that I now call my people at home and my people across the seas who will make our cause their own. I ask them to stand calm and firm and united in this time of trial. The task will be hard. There may be dark days ahead, and war can no longer be confined to the battlefield, but we can only do the right as we see the right, and reverently commit our cause to God. If one and all we keep resolutely faithful to it, ready for whatever service or sacrifice it may demand, then with God’s help, we shall prevail.
May He bless and keep us all.
At the outset, King George expresses his commitment to his people, his subjects, knowing that he is asking them to make their own commitment and sacrifice. As their king he is not expected to present himself as a common man, yet he establishes the ethos of a common experience. He tells them he speaks “with the same depth of feeling . . . as if I were able to cross your threshold and speak to you myself.”
He uses “we” in order to speak as one of the people. He acknowledges that “we are at war” for “the second time in the lives of most of us.” He also uses the inclusive first person plural possessive as he identifies “our enemies,” not Britain’s enemies. This personalization and emphasis on the people themselves is followed by several sentences that are much more abstract in discussion of a “principle.” At the end of that discussion, King George reinforces the nation’s shared values: “For the sake of all we ourselves hold dear, and of the world order and peace, it is unthinkable that we should refuse to meet the challenge.”
Later on, he calls the citizenry to “this high purpose” and refers to them not as citizens or subjects but as “my people,” a description that suggests a closeness rather than emphasizing the distance between a ruler and his subjects. The penultimate paragraph’s references to “God” are another reminder of their shared beliefs: they worship the same god and “commit [their] cause” to him. King George brings ethos to his speech by virtue of his position, but when he assures his audience that “we shall prevail,” rather than saying that England or Britain shall prevail, he is building ethos based on their common plight and common goals. They are all in this together, from king to commoner.