A Rhetorical Analysis Of Charley Chaplin's Movie The Dictator

Speeches given from Great heroes are renowned for rallying the people to act for or against a cause, speeches such as I Have a Dream, to movies such as Brave Heart, in his War speech. Yet, a speech that shouldn’t be forgotten in time is Charley Chaplin’s speech in his movie The Dictator. In the concluding scene where he gives his final speech to explain persuade the people of Germania, that they are deceived by a tyrant who is leading them down a terrible path. There will only be negative consequences if the country continues on with their ways, and how it will disastrously impact the world as we know it. Analyzing his speech in how it is rhetorically a masterpiece with the stylistic usage of, Pathos, Ethos and Logos. In how Chaplin’s delivered …show more content…
Using this opening statement as a way to confuse his audience and obtain some form of sympathy from his viewers, by asking for their forgiveness even though he has done nothing wrong. Opening with I’m sorry is a strategic approach, especially in a political speech when the leader of a country or state is going to speak of a tragedy to come or that has happened that could have been avoided. The tragedy Chaplin speaks of is one to come; he speaks of the coming ruination of mankind. There are two main forms of how he delivers this massage through pathos, the language in the speech itself; secondly the way he presents himself as a speaker via body language, and tone. The choice of sentence structure Chaplin uses in his speech, is short, and gets to the point. A majority of his speech focuses on the totality of despair in others, rather the despair of Germany itself. This lost of humanism and Chaplin’s call to regain it, claims the Germans are on this path to losing their sense of humanity, due to the thought of overthinking, “We think too much and feel too little.” Roaring to his crowd that humans need to remember the type of creature they are, that there are people suffering as well, not just Germania. “Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of …show more content…
Chaplin’s speech is still echoed today to motivate the progression solidarity and morality, even though Hitler swayed the people of Germany in that time, Chaplin’s speech is still echoed to future generations as the ideal voice of progression, making his small speech win victorious in the end. For his use of Ethos is meant to sway the audience, towards liberty and cohesion, and rise above the segregation and keep hold of our liberty and reestablish equality. His use of pathos to attain sympathy from his audience, by opening with “I’m, sorry” as well as his tactical use body language when he transistions from calm to a righteous rage; using this approach to make his audience realize what is happening, and what needs to be done. Lastly his strategic use of Logos in how he makes his whole speech intertwine, by using binaries, and using the fallacy of black and white thinking, to make his audience see that there is something wrong and action needs to be taken to change it for the better. For if nothing is done, humans will become heartless machines, that feel nothing, act cynically and have succumb to the desire of