Analysis Of He Showed Us The Way By Cesar Chavez

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Staying True: Fight of Nonviolence and Violence The farm worker’s movement can be closely compared to the civil rights movement. Even after 10 years, it was an ongoing struggle. Cesar Chavez published “He Showed Us The Way” in a religious organization magazine hoping to convince advocates to continue on the path of nonviolence despite the enduring endeavor. Chavez’s moralistic diction contrasts the ideas of violence and nonviolence in order to support the idea that one must resist violence in order to embrace nonviolent resistance. Throughout his article, Chavez stresses the importance of nonviolence over violence. “victory would come at the expense of injury and perhaps death...We would lose regard for human beings...When you lose your sense of life and justice, you lose your strength.” (66-72), Chavez’s moralistic diction contributes to the optimistic tone. In choosing these words, he creates a feeling of wrongdoing and expresses the extent to which violence is wrong. Chavez relays the idea that if we submit to the easier path, violence, we are weak and end up not being satisfied with the …show more content…

He further does so with juxtaposition by contrasting the effects of violence and nonviolence. “...either the violence will be escalated and there will be many injuries or perhaps deaths on both sides, or there will be total demoralization of the workers.”(18-21). Chavez educates the audience about the negativity of violence, using negative and harsh ideas relating to it. “Nonviolence has the exact opposite effect..we attract people’s support...gather support of millions who have a conscience.” (22-25) In contrast to the ideas of violence, Chavez talks about nonviolence, using encouraging and uplifting ideas relating to it. By placing violence side by side with nonviolence it shows the differences, causing you to choose to follow the more uplifting idea than the harsh