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Analysis Of Mary Fisher's Speech 'A Whisper Of AIDS'

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AIDS is the third leading killer of young adult Americans today. From the voice of one who knows the struggle all too well, political activist and author Mary Fisher, wrote the speech “A Whisper of AIDS”, presented at a Republican National Convention in 1992. In which she argues that AIDS should not identify a person, nor allow them to be hindered from experiences in their lives, which the Republican party can assist with. Fisher adopts a serious, compassionate tone in order to appeal to those infected with AIDS and their families. Fisher effectively convinces her audience that AIDS does not define a person and that these people deserve protection from society through the use of metaphors, meaningless words, emotional appeals and statistics.
Fisher begins her speech to the Republican party and struggling families by discussing how widespread the struggle of silence is for those infected and her own experiences of being shut out due to her disease through the use of a metaphor. In which she employed a serious tone appealing to the emotions of those affected by the disease when saying “I asked the …show more content…

When stating “I would never have asked to be HIV positive, but I believe that in all things there is a purpose; and I stand before you and before the nation gladly.” (2) she shows how strong she is for allowing her story to be heard and exploited, as well as to encourage others to do the same. A metaphor that really ties this whole speech together and allows multiple emotions from sorrow to empathetic is evoked when she is saying, “I am one with the lonely gay man sheltering a flickering candle from the cold wind of his family’s rejection.” (4). Fisher sets the stereotypical recipient of HIV up and relates them to herself to show that she is one with being isolated by her

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