Metaphors In Barack Obama's Speech

Every candidate puts an enormous amount of effort into influencing voters but most people might think it is not simple and rather impossible to persuade voters with a positive message. But Barack Obama may have actually succeeded with his persuasion, mostly by speaking with sincerity and hope. He has pursued the political strategy of hopefulness for over eight years that it feels almost authentic. What likely impressed the audience was his advanced use of metaphor. It is natural to talk about politics by means of dozens of common metaphors but usually we do not even realise how many metaphors appear in speeches.
Obama repeats during his speech in Philadelphia that the United States have not yet been freed from discrimination and racism. Disproportions in housing, health care, employment, education—and myriad other cultural and societal conditions—can be traced directly to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery [BO1]. What mostly initiates economic disparities

It’s not always a straight line. It’s not always a smooth path [BO3]. This idiomatic expression is meant to point out that the progress, which is promised by Obama, should definitely come as the history proves, but its appearance is not predictable. This process is not stable, but rather irregular and thus it occurs in fits and starts. Obama promises a wave of progress coming along with his election.
Obama connects the past and the present by using the history as a metaphor through which the audience may understand the issues of race in America. His stories merge to become one, unconventional metaphor of America. He stresses the notion of moving forward which leads to improvement. Obama’s linguistic choices are supported by appealing metaphors which often emerge from American