On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr., an enormously influential civil rights activist, conveys his indignant and hopeful thoughts regarding the Vietnam War, in his speech “Beyond Vietnam,” by utilizing biblical allusion, anaphora, and use of diction. The pro-social justice and anti-war speech were delivered to state MLK’s opposition to the war to the people of Riverside Church in New York. In this speech, King is evident in his stance regarding Vietnam and expresses his hopeful ideas of growing as a nation by employing biblical allusion, anaphora, and use of diction. Firstly, King utilizes biblical allusion to compare the values we should have to the story of the Good Samaritan. He writes, “On one hand, we are called to play Good Samaritan
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This ideal is that people must change their values to strengthen their character. He uses this statement to address the gap between wealthy and unfortunate, our discrimination against different races in our legal system, and our use of violence in war. He passionately states, “A true revolution in values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies.” This could be referring to the unjust discrimination of King’s people, not only in our legal system but also in life. He continues his stance of the opposition of war by adding, “A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, ‘This way of settling differences is not just’.” It is clear that King is against violence and our involvement in the Vietnam War, although, his tone quickly changes throughout the …show more content…
He starts off very indignant and contrary towards our involvement but ends the speech on a hopeful note. He is extremely clear in stating that although he believes we are making a mistake in battling over our differences, he is optimistic we can grow and learn from this experience that violence is never the answer. In the beginning, King’s tone was accurately described as indignant as he states, “Five years ago he said (JFK),’Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.’ Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken, the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investments… We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society”. It is clear that King believes that America is choosing selfish betterment over selfless betterment. He states that objects have grown to be fundamental to society in place of loving and caring for others. Although King believes this is the way our future is heading, he is hopeful that we can change our selfish ways and focus on making our world better for everyone. He supports this ideal by declaring, “Whatever it takes we must reorder our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the
This ideal is that people must change their values to strengthen their character. He uses this statement to address the gap between wealthy and unfortunate, our discrimination against different races in our legal system, and our use of violence in war. He passionately states, “A true revolution in values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies.” This could be referring to the unjust discrimination of King’s people, not only in our legal system but also in life. He continues his stance of the opposition of war by adding, “A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, ‘This way of settling differences is not just’.” It is clear that King is against violence and our involvement in the Vietnam War, although, his tone quickly changes throughout the …show more content…
He starts off very indignant and contrary towards our involvement but ends the speech on a hopeful note. He is extremely clear in stating that although he believes we are making a mistake in battling over our differences, he is optimistic we can grow and learn from this experience that violence is never the answer. In the beginning, King’s tone was accurately described as indignant as he states, “Five years ago he said (JFK),’Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.’ Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken, the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investments… We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society”. It is clear that King believes that America is choosing selfish betterment over selfless betterment. He states that objects have grown to be fundamental to society in place of loving and caring for others. Although King believes this is the way our future is heading, he is hopeful that we can change our selfish ways and focus on making our world better for everyone. He supports this ideal by declaring, “Whatever it takes we must reorder our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the