preview

Rhetorical Analysis Of Ho Chi Minh's Ho Chi Minh

Decent Essays

Ho Chi Minh’s September 2, 1945 speech was given in front of hundreds of thousands of people with strong patriotic tone and diction recognized by any American inclined to listen. Ho pointed to the enslavement of the Vietnamese that had been enforced by the French Imperialists and how the continuous bartering of the Vietnamese territory by the French to the Japanese plundered the Vietnamese people into a state of extreme poverty. Time and time again, the Viet-Minh had worked to help the French stay afloat from Japanese Axis Powers and even offered to let the French join in the fight against the Japanese throughout WWII; however, the Viet-Minh was still met with bitter destruction of Vietnamese freedom and equality. Ho used his speech to …show more content…

As he redefines the key patriotic terms of Freedom and Independence, Ho speaks with regards to the aforementioned terms, which are the foundation of American history. He states that, “[The French] have denied us every freedom” (Minh 805). In the following several paragraphs, Ho elaborates on the denied freedoms and redefines them accordingly. He redefines the Vietnamese freedom or lack thereof, as a dismal life of mistreated patriots, obstructed public opinion, commandeering of exports, poverty, and ill-development of cities. Ho further embellishes his argument by implementing emotionally connotative trigger words preceding each supporting statement, words such as callously, shamelessly, mercilessly, and ruthlessly just to name a few. These words are used to facilitate in the message that the French are infringing on the Rights of the Vietnamese, furthermore, making them worthy of independence. Ho also redefines independence in terms of what independence is to the Vietnamese. He claims that Vietnam’s territorial ownership was passed between the French and Japanese. The Viet Minh also offered to accommodate the French in efforts to overthrow the Japanese. The Vietnamese had been operating as an independent entity long before officially declaring their independence. Continuing this point, “The People of Viet Nam decided to mobilize… in order to safeguard their right of Liberty and Independence” (Minh 806). Despite all the terror and mistreatment, the Vietnamese had gone

Get Access