"Deadlock" on Two Levels

"Deadlock" by Wildlife Photographer David Maitland

     Before examining how these rhetorical devices convey their argument it must first be explained what that argument even is. In this photograph by wildlife photographer David Maitland, he appears to be attempting to show his audience through his lens the awesome majesty of nature, and for this purpose he uses pathos, ethos, logos, and keiros.
     The logos of the photo tells us that the snake and the frog are enemies, that they are trapped in a heated battle for survival, and that against all odds the frog isn't dead yet. This gives the audience some hope that fate has not taken the life of this animal quite yet, and that he may yet make it out alive, even if his chances seem bleak.
     Snakes have since Genesis in the Bible been a symbol of bad things. In this photo the snake is trying to take the life of another creature, and so by use of ethos the audience is persuaded to identify with the creature struggling for life and not the one fighting for death.
     This striking photo depicting wild animals in a rare kind of moment widely unwitnessed by many people would be a good thing to be shown to convince people of the wonder of nature, perhaps the keiros would be best served among conservationists, or just those fascinated with nature.
     The pathos of this picture works on multiple levels. Firstly it evokes the audiences support of the plight of the underdog, the dog being the frog here, which has become a common staple in society today. Most peoples reaction towards snakes are not friendly ones so there is no conflict of interest there, and as the other animal depicted here is a small, insignificant, tiny, defenseless, and pitiful frog even those who do not like frogs could be so heartless as to not hope he makes it out okay. because most don't, and people love to witness a smaller or weaker fighter win against a stronger adversary. But I said this picture works on two levels, and the second is that by chance the animal that is fighting for its life, and is trapped in a situation clinging to life on the verge of death, is actually a Morelet's Tree Frog (An endangered species). Thus the metaphors of its situation in the photo of being in situation where one cannot improve thyself speaks loudly.