Introduction
The 40th President of United States during the period 1981 - 1989, Ronald Reagan, commemorated one significant event in the US nation’s history and in the history of the entire world – the anniversary of 40 years from the D-Day, which occurred on 6 June, 1944, during the World War II. The former President held a speech regarding this event, which took place in France, on Normandy Beach, on 6 June, 1984. What is of utmost significance in the President Reagan’s speech is the fact that he appeals to religion and God, to loyalty and comradeship to declare that for “democracy is worth dying for” (President Ronald Reagan, “Normandy Speech”).
2. Historical Context
The location of the speech, Normandy Beach, France, is not accidentally, but it has a strong narrative connection with what happened 40 years earlier – the allied forces (including approximately 225 American soldiers) resisted the enemies and helped put an end of the war. D-Day refers to the day when the Allied troops invaded Normandy, for fighting Nazi troops, winning over the German defense, and expanding deeper into Normandy, for winning back France from Germany that occupied the country (“D-Day Landings Northern France” 2). Most of the speech is built on the story of that day of 6 June, 1944, which Reagan uses to indicate the heroism of the American soldiers and of all the other allies. The courage and heroic acts of the other allied forces (France, England, Poland or Scotland) are barely mentioned, as an act of courtesy for being in Europe, and most of all, for being on the territory of France, where the commemorated event took place.
The President’s speech however underlines and emphasizes the heroism, manhood, determination, spirit of comradeship of the American soldiers:
“And the American Rangers began to climb. [] When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing.” (President Ronald Reagan, “Normandy Speech”).
An important aspect to be considered in this case, however, is the fact that a part of the American WWII veterans where present and they where in fact the ones commemorated for their acts. The speech is aimed at thanking them for their loyalty for their country, for freeing a country with no intention to rule over it, in the spirit of democracy.
3. Method
This essay will be using the narrative analysis method for critically analyzing Ronald Reagan’s speech. This approach will point the parts of the speech wherein the speaker aims to connect his audience with a story, a story in which the audience played a significant role. Through narrative analysis I will examine how the speaker presents the story, how will he connect it to the current reality, how he will involve the audience in the narration or what are the temporal relations within the speech (Handbook of Narrative Analysis 13). The theme of the story was already mentioned: the heroism of American troops on 6 June, 1944, for fighting the enemies of freedom, and their loyalty and devotion to democracy, for which their sacrifice is accepted and recommended.
4. Rhetorical Analysis
The speech held at Normandy Beach generates a feeling of authority, because it is the President of United States, Ronald Reagan who holds it, and a feeling of solemnity, because President Reagan transmits seriousness, dignity and respect for his audience, in a very impressive setting, which confer credibility to the moment, to the speech and to the speaker, having all attributes of a strong ethos (Zhu 13). President Ronald Reagan’s speech appeals to Christian values, referring to the soldier’s faith and to biblical passages (“I will not fail thee nor forsake thee”), as a Christian symbolism that protects the right to fight for democracy, pursuing his audience’s emotional connection through pathos.
As the speaker presents his facts to which he refers, he argues why they where needed and he also argues why the sacrifice of the young soldiers, of the allies and of the enemies likewise was needed: for protecting democracy. President Reagan offers informed data about what happened on that D-Day, determining his audience to consider him accurate. Through his arguments and his use of facts and relevant data, the speaker appeals to the audience’s logic (logos), but through applying their logical functions the targeted people are also impressed by the significance of the information (appealing to their ethos) and through the presentation of the heroic facts and the relationship with God, the targeted audience is directed to sensing emotions (pathos) during the speech (Bouwmeester 47).
Through emotional appeal, the audience is connected with the event that occurred 40 years previous to the speech through the story of their heroic deeds. Descriptive visual, odor, and acoustic elements are being captured in the speech (“the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men”, “climb these sheer and desolate cliffs”, “shooting down[] throwing grenades” (President Reagan, “Normandy Speech”)), in order to determine the audience to feel as being part of a historical moment, determining the veterans present (the audience) to relive that day by remembering how they climbed the cliffs, how they resisted the shots of the enemy, how they protected each other, how they fought for the liberation of a country other than their own.
This pure American demagogy is meant to influence the audience (the veterans) to feel important and as making part of the most courageous, altruistic country which praise democracy more than anything, for which is willing to sacrifice its men, who, in the summer of 1944 where still boys with the excitement of life running in their blood.
The speech is meant to persuade the targeted audience to reflect at their acts: “Why? Why did you do it?” and to inculcate them the idea that they have risked their lives (and some of the American Rangers sacrificed their lives) for the loyalty and love for democracy. The President speaks about the soldier’s loyalty and love for freedom and democracy as if it was their own choice to go to war and kill people, risking their lives and their youth, as if there was nothing to do with mandatory enrollment order, or with following the superiors’ strategic commands, as if they really understood at that time why they were fighting for, as if they had known at that moment that they were the shields and spikes of democracy, dyeing or killing for it.
The audience is formed not only from the present guests (veterans of the World War II who fought with Nazi Germans on 6 June, 1944 and Allies’ officials present at the commemoration of the event), but also people watching the speech on TV, or listening it on radio. The speech was meant for every American and Allied’ country citizens, for governments and social opinions, sending them messages and manipulating their opinions about war, democracy or protection of democracy.
The President’ story – telling includes pathetic elements that determine the former soldiers to go back in the past emotionally, but also realistic elements, such as the presence of the Soviet Union troops in Europe, which threatens democracy, mixing logically yet symbolically the past with the present, in order to create a meaning, and moreover, an action: to determine the audience (the former soldiers and the official bodies present at the reunion) to support United States in its initiative to protect the countries who are threatened by Soviet’s occupation, by also sending troops in those countries, to guard and to be prepared to respond to a potential Russian attack. Actually, the temporal relations, as they are mixed in the speech, have a great significance upon the audience, on all levels of the rhetoric: pathos (reliving the emotions of the past), logos (clearly and coherently thinking at the actions that must be underpinned for protecting freedom and democracy from the communist threat) and ethos (attributing credibility to President Reagan, for he had a great command upon what happened in 1944 and for understanding the urgency of acting upon what was going on 40 years later).
Conclusion
While the text contributes to a better understanding of rhetorical theory, it also generates question marks regarding the real democratic intentions, caught between preparing and persuading innocent people to give their lives for new fights for guarding democracy and the hegemonic intentions of United States, a great political force.
Works Cited
Bouwmeester, Onno. Economic Advice and Rhetoric: Why Do Consultants Perform Better than Academic Advisers. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc. 2010. Print.
Handbook of Narrative Analysis. Antwerp: Vantilt & Vubpress. 2005. Print
Reagan, Ronald. Normandy Speech: Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Years Anniversary of D-Day. Retrieved on 7 May, 2013 from http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganddayaddress.html. 1984. Web.
The D-Day Landings Northern France 6 June 1944. Second World War 60th Anniversary. Crown. 2004. Print.
Zhu, Yunxia. Written Communication across Cultures. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co. 2005. Print.
