Analysis of the “Spirit Reborn” by William Safire
In “Spirit reborn” William Safire demonstrates the power in the limited and careful choice of words by Lincoln during, “The Gettysburg Address” at the commemoration of September 11. Safire persuasively explains how Lincoln uses the word “dedicate” to bring about various but related individual meanings with regard to the nations stage in the freedom process. He talks about how a national spirit of freedom rose from the ashes of destruction, back when thousands of soldiers died fighting for freedom that is enjoyed by the current generation. This brings about the urge for the present citizens to maintain peace and harmony as a way of honoring the price that their fore fathers had to pay to attain the freedom.
He states how Abraham Lincoln carefully used the word ‘dedicate’ five times in his speech and what each one of them meant. He used them in a series to describe how the American dedication to freedom came to be, and how thousands of casualties lost their lives as a result of the fierce fighting of the three day battle at Gettysburg, back in July 1863. Through this war, the promise and hope for the nation’s future was born though at a high cost.
William Safire intends to bring about the impression that, maintaining peace and harmony is never a finished business, but a continuous process that deserves sheer care and attention from the citizens. To convey this, he tells us that Lincoln's "sermon at Gettysburg reminds us, the living, of our unfinished work and the great tasks remaining before us - to resolve that this generation's response to the deaths of thousands of our people leads to a new birth of freedom," which calls for the citizens to embrace and nurture the new beginning to a liberal future that their fore fathers died fighting for.
