Speech Analysis - "I Have a Dream"

On 22nd April 2021, an analysis was conducted on the political speech "I Have a Dream" delivered by civil rights activist Martin Luther King on 28th August 1963 in Washington, DC. In this speech, King expresses his vision of a future where black and white people are equal in the USA.

Equality and Justice for All

In the first section of the speech, Martin Luther King emphasizes the equality of all people by referring to the Declaration of Independence. He speaks about a future where there are no differences between black and white people, and they live together in peace and harmony. King talks about the problems of discrimination and racism in the USA and mentions several states, including Georgia and Mississippi. Despite the current situation being bad, he demands equality, justice, and freedom for the nation. Moreover, he comments on the current governor of Alabama and says he will go back to the south with faith.

Stylistic Devices

Taking a closer look at the speech, Martin Luther King uses a variety of stylistic devices. He integrates the audience into his speech by quoting the Declaration of Independence, which creates a feeling of unity. King personifies the nation and expresses his hope that the people of the United States will someday live after the Declaration. Furthermore, he repeatedly uses the phrase "I have a dream," which emphasizes his belief in achieving his aim and underlines he has not given up hope yet. Due to the repetitive rhythm, these repetitions and anaphoras catch the listeners' attention.

Parallelisms and Metaphors

Martin Luther King uses a lot of parallelisms when he speaks about black and white people. Proof of this can be found in lines 4-6 when he "dreams" that "the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood." In this speech, parallelisms like this are intending to demonstrate the people themselves have much in common. Additionally, the "table of brotherhood" Mr. King mentions is a metaphor for a peaceful and friendly relationship between blacks and whites that creates a vivid mental image of how this relationship could be.

Criticism and Hope

Martin Luther King criticizes the terrible conditions for black people in the US state of Mississippi when he describes it as "a state sweltering with the heat of oppression." It metaphorically compares Mississippi to hell and therefore clearly indicates that if there will be no change soon, black people will have to go on suffering there. On the other hand, he still believes someday this hell might turn into "an oasis of freedom and justice," which is a metaphor for equality of blacks and whites in rights and law. Altogether, this heat and oasis build an antithesis to emphasize the difference between the current reality and the reality Martin Luther King dreams of.

Religious Metaphors

Martin Luther King uses another metaphor in order to criticize the governor's passive behavior against racism in his state. In his opinion, the governor just speaks with "words of interposition and nullification," which means he talks a lot but does not do anything. In the following lines, Mr. King repeats the aspect of brotherhood and equality between black and white people by using another parallelism.

In the final section of the speech, Martin Luther King uses a parallelism including a climax, symbols, and a metaphor. In this connection, the symbols "valley," "hill," and "mountain," which stand for the rights of the blacks and those of the whites and visualize the rift between them, form the climax. This rift shall perish. Moreover, Martin Luther King mentions the "glory of the lord" which will lead to a union of "all flesh." Here, the religious metaphor means the end of all conflicts between black and white people, which are symbolized by the flesh.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Martin Luther King's speech "I Have a Dream" is full of impressive stylistic devices that make the listeners visualize the issues and hopes he addresses. The speech is to this day one of his most famous ones. By describing a hopeful future for the United States, Martin Luther King encourages the listeners and himself to keep working for his dream of equality, which he and other black people living in the USA desire.