Keating Redfern Speech

The enduring value of any speech lies in its ability to stir emotions, assure with conviction and cut to the heart of complex and controversial issues. It is the balanced sequence of structure and emotive application appropriate to its climax that directs the audience along the trajectory of ideas created by the speaker. Keating’s Redfern Speech and Anwar Sadat’s speech to the Israeli Knesset both achieve value above and beyond the time and place in which they were first delivered. The climax and textual integrity of the speech stresses the common conflict within their contexts to create a sense of urgency towards a possible future that seizes passivity and harmony. They identify the boundaries that act as the fundamental tensions to achieving …show more content…
Keating recognised responsibility for the high incidence of violent crime, alcoholism and chronic drug use in Redfern when he referred alliteratively to the ‘devastation and demoralisation’ evident within communities like Redfern as a ‘plight’ that affects us all. The combination of emotive and inclusive language effective conveys his argument that our humanity and national identity will remain as long as Aboriginal Australians live in the metaphorical ‘shadows’. His final words offer cautious optimism while maintaining that ‘we’ still ‘owe indigenous Australians’ and have a lot to learn from them- ‘We are beginning to recognise…. We are learning…. We are beginning to see.’ His use of the present tense explores the sense that our national identity and collective self-knowledge is still in progress. The power and impact of Keating’s speech is enduring. Similarly in a tone of sincerity and affirmation, Sadat proposes, ‘Why don’t we……together….destroy this barrier’? Sadat’s use of the inclusive pronoun “we” appeals to his audience’s pathos and accentuates a need for peace. The speaker makes historical references to the ‘Wall’ between Egypt and Israel through the extended metaphor of “A psychological barrier”, that existed between the two nations and further emphasises through repetition that this has to be overcome to attain peace. Sadat was known as “The hero of peace” after his aspirational speech. Thus, it is undeniable that today that the middle east need individuals like Sadat who are willing to risk their lives in a quest to alter perspectives and promote a possible peace and