Martin Luther King Junior delivered the speech titled I have a dream in 1963 before thousands of protesters during the march on Washington. His speech highlighted the injustices that the blacks and minority in America underwent while presenting the America that he desired to see in future. Some of the injustices that the blacks were subjected to included living in abject poverty whereas the whites had all the material wealth. Racial discrimination, whereby the Negros were not allowed to share facilities with the whites is also an injustice that Martin Luther highlighted in his speech. On the other hand, David Wallace delivered his speech before Kenyon College graduates in the United States. He commences his speech by telling a story of two small fish and a big fish that were swimming in the waters. Wallace uses his speech to challenge his audience to be attentive and keen to their surroundings. He challenges the graduates to understand the real meaning of education which goes beyond gaining knowledge but rather being conscious and aware of their surroundings. While "This is Water" by David Wallace and "I have a dream" by MLK are different in way they use differing tones, they are similar in that they both share a common theme of freedom and employ similar styles such as the use of metaphors.
One obvious similarity is that both speeches were delivered in the United States of America. Luther’s speech is rich in metaphors and figurative language that he attempts to use to openly portray the injustice that the blacks and minority were going through in the United States. Some of the metaphors include banking. While highlighting the lack of civil rights among Negros, he uses a banking metaphor. The marchers had gathered there to cash in their check while bashing the government for giving blacks a blank check. Another metaphor he uses is on food and drink. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred”. He has also used the metaphor of nature such as mountains, valleys, deserts oasis, solid rocks, quick sand, islands, ocean, waters, whirlwinds and storms. For instance he compares injustice to being a desert whereas justice is likened to an oasis of water. He also likens racial injustice to quick sands while affirming that brotherhood is like a solid rock .
In Wallace’s speech, there is also the use of metaphors. Water is used metaphorically. It represents our surrounding or the world in general. Fish is also used metaphorically to represent human beings. Just like the two young fish failed to understand that they were actually swimming in the water we as humans always fail to be conscious of our surrounding .
Freedom is a theme that has been discussed in both speeches. Martin Luther King hopes for freedom for the Negros. Freedom to vote, share public utilities with the whites, freedom from brutality and police persecution as well as freedom from racial segregation. ‘This is Water’ also addresses the theme of freedom but at a different angle. That we should not always be rigid in our thinking but rather exercise some level of freedom. In this world we live we different kinds of people and their actions can simply annoy or irritate us. An example are the long queues at the grocery yet you are tired after a long day at work and want to go home or better still the guy who carelessly overtakes you on the highway in his SUV. Freedom calls for an understanding that probably the guy overtaking you has an emergency to attend to .
There are also evident differences that stand out between the two speeches. Martin Luther King Junior uses an authoritative and commanding tone to challenge the existing US government to end the injustices directed at the blacks. On the other hand David Wallace uses a persuasive tone towards his audience to make them understand and realize the importance of embracing love and selflessness. He avoids appearing to his audience as authoritative, for him he is just but challenging them to stop thinking about themselves or believe that the worlds revolves only around them. For examples he tells them that they should not be worried that he was there to present himself as the wise old fish. He goes on to also assure them that he was not there to give them moral advice.
Also in the speech this is Water, David Wallace employs the storytelling technique to better illustrate the points he wanted to put across. One of the stories was about the two young fish and the older fish that were swimming in the water. These fish have been personified by being given the ability to speak. The older fish inquires from the younger fish how the water was. As he progresses with his speech he keeps referring to the stories that he had presented to his audience . Martin Luther King, on the other hand, plainly paints the picture of the injustices suffered by Negros without using stories.
In conclusion, it is evident that the two speeches continue to be popular years after both Martin Luther King Junior and David Wallace passed away. The prominence of the two speeches is not only embedded in the messages they were conveying but rather in the great speech writing skills that can be learnt from both speeches. For instance, Martin Luther uses the repetition of the phrase ‘I have a dream’ to emphasize the kind of America he envisions. It’s this repetition that has made this speech memorable over time.
Works Cited
Martin, Luther K Jr. I have a dream. 1994. Web. 30 March 2016. <http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1951-/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-august-28-1963.php>.
Wallace, David. "This is Water." Eggers, Dave. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2006. Mariner Books, 2006. 204-209. Print.
