Metaphors In Cesar Chavez's Speech

“It is possible to become discouraged about the injustice we see everywhere. But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth. It is an awesome opportunity”. A quote said by Cesar Chavez, which means that either one sees the bad qualities in life or the good qualities in life, and that the decision is totally up to the human being. Cesar Chavez was a man who had dedicated his life to improving the lifestyles of farm workers by leading marches and boycotts. Similarly, Martin Luther King Jr. was very aware of the rough qualities in life and wanted to encourage people to join him in improving the lifestyles and injustices of colored

King makes an impact on his audience to give them an emotional connection. Metaphors allow the audience to make an emotional association with what the speaker is talking about. To demonstrate that, “as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves”. This quote demonstrates the metaphor being used by Dr. King to allow the audience get a feeling of determination to end racial injustice. The metaphor means that the speech will be a sign of hope to the black people that they will be free and they will gain justice. For instance, “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline”. This quote is a metaphor which is comparing the ways of freedom to a cup and a drinking substance. Dr. King says how they can not satisfy their need for freedom by using bitterness and hatred, in fact, that they need to satisfy the need for freedom by using their dignity and discipline to receive their justice. This allows the audience to emotionally feel like they do not have to use violence, that they can peacefully protest and get what they want a lot easier. Metaphors allow the audience to gain an emotional reaction and connection to the

King uses anaphoras in his speech to get a powerful reaction out of his audience. Anaphoras show the audience how important a certain idea or concept is. Such as,” Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.” This excerpt from Dr. King shows a synecdoche by saying “now is the time”. He is expressing the idea that now is the moment for people to come together and end the racial justice. He repeats that phrase multiple times to clearly demonstrate that the time of colored people suffering is over. Dr. King states “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today”. In this quote, Dr. King is demonstrating that he has been anticipating the racial injustice to