Question

How does the imagery in this excerpt create a tone that will lead listeners away from the death penalty as a choice for Leopold and Loeb?
…both these boys at a time seeking to adjust their young lives to the world, moved by the strongest feelings and passions that have ever moved men, both these boys at the time boys grow insane, at the time crimes are committed, all this added to all the rest of the vagaries do you charge them with the responsibility that we may have a hanging, that we may deck Chicago in a holiday garb and let the people have their fill of blood, that you may put stains upon the heart of every man, woman and child on that day and that the dead walls of Chicago will tell the story of blood?
A.The imagery creates a serious, judgmental tone; Darrow suggests that the audience will be responsible for the execution of Leopold and Loeb.
B.The tone is sympathetic and slightly nostalgic; imagery of the boys’ teenage years is intended to remind the audience of their own adolescent experiences.
 C.The celebratory imagery creates an optimistic tone, describing how Leopold and Loeb’s families will feel if they are allowed to go free.
D. The imagery creates a thoughtful, questioning tone, as Darrow invites the audience to consider how they might have behaved if they were raised as Leopold and Loeb were.

Answer 1

While the passage does use the term "boys" which could create a sense of nostalgia, the imagery clearly creates a very serious and judgmental tone, which makes the audience responsible for the execution. There isn't any reference to anything cheerful, although the word "holiday" is used. There is also no reference to anything that would indicate the author wants the audience to think about how the boys were raised. The audience is made to feel the burden of responsibility of the hanging of the boys.

A line such as "you charge them with the responsibility that we may have a hanging" clearly implicates the audience. YOU are responsible. Also the line, "that we may deck Chicago in a holiday garb and let the people have their fill of blood", implicates everybody who would be celebrating in witnessing the hanging, meaning the audience, again. The audience in meant to imagine celebrating whilst drinking blood, literally the blood of the dead boys and a metaphor for their involvement. Finally, the line, "that you may put stains upon the heart of every man, woman and child on that day and that the dead walls of Chicago will tell the story of blood", implicates the audience by "staining" them with the blood of the dead. A mark of guilt would metaphorically be on every man, woman, and child's hearts forever. In this passage the audience is being led away from the death penalty with harsh phrases that implicate them in the decision they make. Clearly, a better alternative would be to punish the boys in another way, alleviating the audience from the guilt and responsibility of their deaths.