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What Are The Two Metaphors In The Atlanta Exposition Address

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Booker T. Washington in his “The Atlanta Exposition Address” discusses two metaphors one about a ship in distress and the other about five fingers of a hand. These two metaphors arise from the complexity of the slaves finally being set free but not knowing what to do with their freedom. Washington writes that there is a great responsibility in being free, and having to sort out a plan for one’s life when captivity is all that the slaves have known (557). On the other hand, the Anglo-Saxon race as Washington describes them has been handling their freedom for a long time. While some slaves have no other memory then the one of being property of their owners. How can a race that has been mistreated and abused physically and mentality take control of their life’s so rapidly? Without a proper education or sufficient knowledge to battle against the white race who has been their superior for a long time. …show more content…

The first metaphor is about a ship in need of water but the sailors don’t realize that they are standing in fresh water and need to cast down their buckets. The term “cast down your buckets where ever you are” Washington uses it to suggest that both the whites and blacks must compromise with each other. However, based on his perspective, the blacks must cast down their buckets in manual labor and not achieve for greater professions. While the whites only have to allow the free slaves to live among them in peace. Washington believes that the American Negro after being enslave for so long needs to earn the whites trust, and the only way to achieve that is by starting from the

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Repetition is found all throughout Washington 's speech. He repeats the phrase "cast down your buckets where you are" to strengthen his allegory. The more it is said, the more it is clear that he is not just talking to the African Americans, he is also talking to the "those of the white race". He is implying that the Whites could look to the African Americans for the prosperity of the South, instead of looking to "those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits" (Line 74-75). He is telling both sides to notice what is around them and use what they have.

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