Ronald Reagan Tear Down This Wall Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical Criticism of Ronald Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall”
Ronald Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall” speech was presented at the Brandenburg Gate in Germany in 1987 during the Cold War. This was a period in time when there was a tense conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. This tension prevailed from the end of World War II (1945) until the descent and collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet Union produced the Berlin Wall in 1961 in demand to divide the communist East and democratic West of Berlin. Reagan gave this speech in 1987 when the tensions between the two were very high. In order to sway his audience to be on the same side as him, Reagan had to use many tools to get his audience on the same page. But he had to tread carefully due to the extreme tensions of all involved. First, he set up the frame for the enemies of the Soviet Union as a threat to human rights. Reagan was also sure to utilize Aristotle's philosophy of

And today, I say, as long as this gate is closed, as long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand, it is not the German question alone that remains open, but the question of freedom for all mankind” (Reagan). This strong metaphor compares the Berlin Wall, a physical structure to something that needs to be fought by an intangible force, freedom. As long as that wall is there, there is no freedom. This is why the people need to fight back for their freedom. Reagan wants people to understand that freedom is an incredibly powerful and unstoppable force that will eventually break the wall of oppression and tyranny. Reagan also used a metaphor in this passage. He described the wall as a “scar”, he did this to convey the emotional pain that the wall is causing everyone. This is another reason why it must be brought down. Overall, his use of pathos helped pull out emotions from the audience to make his messages more