Rhetorical Analysis Of Malcolm X's 'Message To The Grassroots'

Malcolm X’s use of anecdotes with the assistance of metaphors in Message to the Grassroots proves to his audience that they need to stand up for themselves. His use of anecdotes appeals to the listener’s emotions. Well-known images are presented to stimulate his followers at an emotional level. Malcolm X translates an article as to refer to a more pessimistic outlook on the story. “I read an article in Life Magazine showing a little Chinese girl, nine years old, her father was on his hands and knees and she was pulling the trigger because he was an Uncle Tom Chinaman,” ‘Uncle Tom’ refers to the true story of a slave who obeyed his master's, “[w]hen they had the revolution over there, they took a whole generation of Uncle Toms and just wiped them out.” By him referring to Uncle Tom, the public will see that they need to get rid of Uncle …show more content…
He recognizes the similarities between current issues and slavery through his use of metaphors relating to negative images to affect the crowd’s emotions. Not to mention, Malcolm studied the Bandung conference and realized their strategy of unity. He claims, “The number-one thing that was not allowed to attend the Bandung conference was the white man. He couldn’t come. Once they excluded the white man, they found that they could get together. Once they kept him out, everybody else fell right in and fell in line.” This idealistic example suggests that all of them could come together and make one through the strategy of keeping all the whites out. In order for them to find unity, Malcolm X inclines the audience’s emotions. The unrealistic ideas hidden behind his metaphors and anecdotes work to persuade his audience that anything is possible. Anecdotes and metaphors strive in his speech, in order for all of them to come as one and fight