Martin Luther King's Allusion Used In I Have A Dream Speech

One hundred years after the signing the Emancipation Proclamation, Martin Luther King Jr. firmly expressed his opinion about the prejudice facing African Americans at the time in his inspirational I Have a Dream Speech. King is able to state his viewpoint so solidly through his allusions to the past, use of figurative language, formal and informal voice, and his picturesque diction. Kings purpose for giving such a powerful speech was to give hope to the individuals who were able to gather together, and listen to his remarkable speech given on the Lincoln Memorial steps. The community united together were able to be aroused by King because of his colorful word choice; such as, his allusions to the past. Considering the allusions King makes, the majority of them focus on events that occur in our past as a nation. He alludes to Abraham Lincoln “whose symbolic shadow we stand [in] today” (King 1), and equally to the “sign[ing of] the Emancipation Proclamation” (King 1). Both Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation refer to moments where history was made. Where something was changed and the nation was affected greatly, something King hopes the Civil Rights Movement will do. He then refers to the “magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence” By mentioning these documents King …show more content…
His purpose in using such colorful language is show the audience how he seems the inequality in America, how he sees the suffering, and how they will fight it. He responds to this occasion slightly different than other Civil Rights leaders might, he sees this time as a time to bring people together because he knows, “We cannot walk alone” (King 3). Therefore he constructs his language in the speech to show the other supporters what they can and cannot do in this fight, he is able to show them the brutality in the occasion but he is able to bring hope and faith into this