Nelson Mandelas tale: retorisk analyse

This is an analysis of a speech called “I am prepared to die” by Nelson Mandela. This speech among others like “I have a dream” has been a tool for Mandela in the fight against apartheid, the separation of white and black people. The speech was in Mandela’s trial for sabotage and attempting violent overthrow of the South African state in 1964. First, I will examine and describe the use and purpose of different rhetorical devices.

In the speech, Mandela use the power of repetition, which is seen in page 132, the last paragraph, to page 133 the first paragraph: “Africans want to be paid a living wage. Africans…” In this paragraph, the word “Africans” is used 8 times. This makes this part of the speech more intense and therefore it will enhance the connection between the receiver and the sender of the message. Another repetition can be seen in the second last paragraph: “Their struggle is a truly national one. It is a struggle … It is a struggle for the right to live” This is also the rule of three, which probably have the same purpose as the repetition with the Africans.

A few metaphors are also seen in the speech, in the beginning of page 132: “legislation designed to preserve white supremacy entrenches this notion”. The metaphor makes this particular place in the speech more interesting and entertaining to listen to. This could have been Mandela’s intention, so the people would listen to him. As said before, only a few metaphors are in this speech, although, there is also a simile: “Africans want to be allowed out after eleven o’clock at night and not be confined to their rooms like little children” in first paragraph on page 133. This simile shows that he compares grown African men and little children, when it comes to how the Africans are treated not only by the white people, but also by the law.