Metaphors in American Presidents’ Inaugural Addresses：
An Empirical Study
by
Zhang He
Under the Supervision of
Professor Chen Xinren
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts
English department
School of Foreign Studies
Nanjing University
Jan 2009
i
Acknowledgments
I wish to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor Professor Chen Xinren for
his guidance and encouragement. I would also like to thank my teachers of the thesis
writing class, Wang Wenyu and Zhou Dandan. These professors helped me choose my
thesis topic, analyze my data, and revise my thesis. With out their help, I cannot
complete my thesis step by step. Last but not least, my thanks go to all of my friends for
their forgiveness of my dysphoria and for their support when I was struggling in the
middle of writing the thesis.
Z.H.
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摘要
美国总统在总统就职演说时常常会用到隐喻这种修辞手法。前人的研究表明，
隐喻帮助政治家们阐明抽象的政治措辞，鼓舞观众的情绪，借此达到他们的政治
目的。但是，这些研究要么聚焦于各种政治文体中的隐喻，要么聚焦于其他多种
修辞手法，并没有集中关注美国总统演说中的隐喻这一值得我们去探索其奥秘的
修辞。本研究以三位美国总统就职演说中不同类型的隐喻为研究对象，尝试发现
它们的用法和功用。语料分别是肯尼迪总统于 1961 年、里根总统于 1981 年，布
什总统于 2001 年发表的三篇演说辞。笔者将这三篇演说中的隐喻分成八个类别，
分别是：战争类、火与光类、旅行类、自然类、建筑类、生理痛苦类、人物类和
金融类。每一类隐喻在传递总统政治意图方面都有其特别的效果。本文还比较了
三位总统所用隐喻的区别，寻找出它们表达的不同的政治态度。
研究结果表明，三位总统就职演说中有一些共有的隐喻类别，体现了政治演
说的语言艺术和国家最高领导人的智慧。通过比较三篇演说辞，我们挖掘到隐藏
在文字背后的关于美国经济、政治、内政、外交各方面的信息。今后我们仍旧可
以运用这种对隐喻的分类来分析其它美国总统的演讲，更好地理解他们的政治意
图。
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ABSTRACT
Metaphor is a rhetorical device American presidents frequently use in their
inaugural addresses. As shown by previous studies, metaphors help politicians clarify
the abstract politic phrases, arouse audience’s emotion, and reach politicians’ political
aims. However, in previous studies, scholars focus their attention either on metaphors in
all kinds of politic speeches or on different kinds of rhetorical skills in presidents’
inaugural address. They pay little attention to the usage of metaphors in American
presidents’ inaugural address, which does require some efforts to discover its mystery.
The present study, therefore, focuses on different categories of metaphors used in three
American presidents’ inaugural speeches, attempting to figure out the usage and effects
of them. The data I choose are John F. Kennedy’s address in 1961, Ronald Reagan’s
address in 1981, and George W. Bush’s address in 2001. In this empirical study, I
classify all the metaphors in the three texts into 8 categories: metaphors of military
affairs, metaphors of fire and light, metaphors of journey, metaphors of nature,
metaphors of building, metaphors of physical suffering, metaphors of people, and
metaphors of finance. Each category has its particular effects on the delivery of the
president’s political intention. I also compare the usage of metaphors in the subjects,
and find out that the differences in the use of metaphors by different presidents can
reveal their different political attitudes.
These results show that there are some shared metaphors in every president’s
inaugural speech, through which we can see the art of political speech and the wisdom
of the highest leader of a nation. From the contrast of three subjects, we can dig out the
hidden information of America’s economic, political, municipal, and diplomatic attitude
in different times. We also can adopt the classification of metaphors in the future in
analyzing other American president’s speech and get better understanding of their
political intention.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
ii
摘要
iii
Abstract
iv
Table of Contents
v
INTRODUCTION
1
Part One LITERATURE REVIEW
1
1.1 Definitions of key terms
1
1.2 Overview of related studies
2
1.3 Problems with previous studies
3
Part Two METHODOLOGY
3
2.1 Research questions
3
2.2 Subjects
4
2.3 Data collection & data analysis
4
Part THREE RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
5
3.1 The situation in which metaphors are used frequently
5
3.2 The usage of metaphors in APIAs
7
3.2.1 Metaphors of military affairs
8
3.2.2 Metaphors of fire and light
9
3.2.3 Metaphors of journey
10
3.2.4 Metaphors of nature
10
3.2.5 Metaphors of building
10
3.2.6 Metaphors of physical suffering
11
3.2.7 Metaphors of people
11
3.2.8 Metaphors of finance
12
3.3 Causes and effects of metaphors in APIAs
3.3.1 Causes and effects of metaphors of military affairs
v
12
12
3.3.2 Causes and effects of metaphors of fire and light
13
3.3.3 Causes and effects of metaphors of journey
14
3.3.4 Causes and effects of metaphors of nature
14
3.3.5 Cause and effects of metaphors of building
15
3.3.6 Causes and effects of metaphors of physical suffering
15
3.3.7 Causes and effects of metaphors of people
15
3.3.8 Causes and effects of metaphors of finance
16
3.3.9 Summary
16
Part Four CONCLUSION
16
References
18
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INTRODUCTION
Presidents’ inaugural address, as a kind of political speech, is an art that includes all the
skills of public speaking. How do American presidents make their addresses attractive and
persuasive? Do they have some skills or secrets of success on public speaking? Yes, of course.
Before the address, many people who have great talent or golden knack of public speaking
make concerted effort to construct such a perfect text. They check wording and phrasing, and
use all kinds of figures of speech as long as they need. As a result of collective wisdom,
inaugural addresses show their special charm to appeal to millions of fellow citizens.
In recent years, many studies found positive effects of different speech skills in
inaugural addresses. In this research, I mainly focus on the usage and frequency of metaphors
used in the speeches, which undoubtedly play indispensable roles in making a good inaugural
address. I use three American presidents’ inaugural addresses as my samples in order to
discover some common rules for the usage of metaphors through comparing and analyzing
the three addresses. Here are two ways in which this research is significant. First, from the
perspective of pragmatics, it seeks the practical meaning of metaphors in a real and special
environment; second, from the perspective of politics, it helps us better understand
politicians' real intention and their art of speech.
I hope that through this research I can find out the usage of metaphors in those addresses,
and what effects they produce respectively on the theme the addressers want to deliver. I also
hope that the comparison and contrast among the three different speeches will give us some
clues about the change of American’s political, economic, and diplomatic tactics in different
periods.
LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Definitions of key terms
To begin the study of metaphor, let’s first look at the definition of metaphor. The
following explanation comes from the American Heritage Dictionary.
Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word of phrase that ordinarily designates one
thing is used to designates another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in “a sea of
troubles” or “All the world’s a stage” (Shakespeare).
As two key factors of metaphors, “tenor” and “vehicle” are easy to be understood in the
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following example:
Tenor: the word, phrase, or subject with which the vehicle of a metaphor is identified, as
life in “Life’s but a walking shadow” (Shakespeare).
Vehicle: the concrete or specific word or phrase that is applied to the tenor of a metaphor
and gives the metaphor its figurative power, as walking shadow in “Life’s but a walking
shadow” (Shakespeare).
——excerpted from American Heritage Dictionary
1.2 Overview of related studies
The study of metaphor covers a long history that begins as early as ancient Greece more
than two thousand years ago. Ever since great thinker Aristotle, people have been intrigued
by the mystery of metaphor. Researchers from various academic fields have approached
metaphor from very different perspectives and established an array of theories of metaphor.
In the twentieth century, especially since the nineteen seventies, the academia showed much
enthusiasm in the study of metaphor. Most of the studies of metaphor have mainly
concentrated on lexical metaphor, and some of them have focussed on metaphors in public
speeches.
“Speeches are considered as a unified strategy aimed to achieve a specific effect,
informative, persuasive, or other, to the extent that it is clear, interesting, credible, and
appropriate for the audience within a given time limit.”(Wilson, 1994, pp.5-6) Among the
different kinds of public speeches, politic speeches seem to have more concern with the art of
language. As for the function of political speech, Feldman and Landtsheer (1998, p.196)
points out that language in politics can reduce the uncertainties and contractions,
characteristics of abstract concepts and political maneuvers, to the extent that language
becomes an important instrument of power, a weapon for winning political office, a tool for
influencing society and a weapon for mobilizing the public support. In the book Politically
Speaking: A Worldwide Examination of Language Used in the Public Sphere, written by O.
Feldman and C. D. Landtsheer, they use different kinds of methodologies and theoretical
directions to do their research. One of their focuses is rhetorical device—the oldest approach
to political language.
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1.3 Problems with Previous Studies
The previous researches focus either on the study of metaphor in daily life or on the
study of rhetorical phenomena in public speech. They ignore the special advantage that
metaphor may have in public speech in formal situations, especially when the speech has
political significance. Analyses that focus on the usages of metaphor in presidents’ inaugural
addresses are rare to find. This research seeks to fill this gap in the literature, and tries to get
access to the heart of American presidents’ inaugural addresses.
Presidents’ inaugural address is a special kind of political language because it is usually
addressed by the president of a nation to the whole country as his audience in a particular
place and on a particular day. The significance of inaugural address needs not to be
mentioned. Apart from the gesture and tone being practiced before the address, the text itself
is tempered again and again in order to win the maximum audience. Metaphor is so
commonly used that it plays an important role in persuading and convincing people. However,
previous studies seem pay little attention to the usage of metaphor in inaugural address, to
which I think efforts should be directed. A deep analysis of the types of metaphor used in
presidents’ inaugural address also can shed light on different presidents’ political attitude
hidden behind the words. That is also the motivation that drives me to do this research.
METHODOLOGY
2.1 Research questions
The present study attempts to seek answers to the following research questions:
1. How are metaphors used in American presidents’ inaugural address?
1) Is metaphor frequently used in presidents’ inaugural address?
2) Can these metaphors be categorized into groups?
3) If they can, what are these groups?
4) In what situations are metaphors used? Can these situations be categorized?
2. What are the possible effects of these metaphors?
1) Do the metaphors express the hidden meaning of the words?
2) Do the metaphors well express the presidents’ intention?
3. What similarities and differences are there in the usage of metaphors among different
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presidents’ address?
1) Do the addresses have the same metaphors or metaphor categories?
2) If they do share some similarities, what are they and why?
3) Is there any metaphor category that is used in one particular address but absent in
others?
4) If there is, what is the category and why does it appear?
2.2 Subjects
The data for this study are three inaugural speeches of American presidents after the
Second World War. The presidents are John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush.
The three speeches have more than 5000 words and spans more than 50 years. The years they
delivered their inaugural address are 1961, 1981, and 2001. The intervals between Kennedy
and Reagan and between Reagan and Bush are both 20 years, and the speeches are all made
in their first presidential term.
2.3 Data collection and data analysis
The three speeches were extracted from a corpus of American presidents’ inaugural
addresses on the Internet. While studying the speeches, I identified and classified the
metaphors in them employing the definition of metaphor given in the thesis. Once
quantitative data were collected, I undertook a qualitative analysis in order to explain their
conceptual bases. The aim was first to describe and classify, and then to interpret and explain
the metaphors.
In the process of counting the number of metaphors, I found that in some sentences,
more than two tokens were used to express one metaphor, like the following one:
E.g. …and even after nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet to travel. (George W. Bush)
In the sentence, “way” and “travel” were two tokens, but since they belong to one
metaphor, I counted them as one. This kind of counting could avoid repetition.
In the following study, I analyzed the metaphors by incorporating its linguistic and
pragmatic dimensions in order to explore why metaphor has the potential to arouse the
emotion, which is very often used in persuasive language, especially in political speeches. To
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make my analysis clear, I divided it into two parts. First I classified situations in which
metaphors were most frequently used, and then I transferred the perspective to vehicles by
putting all the vehicles appearing in the three American presidents’ inaugural addresses
(APIAs) in groups. A detailed analysis followed the classification.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 The situation in which metaphors are used frequently
Every president is well aware of his moment of inauguration. At that moment, he has the
nation’s attention, and the inaugural address offers him a chance to write his history of his
administration before it begins. He can take his chance to appeal to more people to support
his government and his party, for every speaker knows that if he can manipulate or limit what
is possible in language, he can manipulate or limit what is possible in thought (Wilson, 2001).
In fact, how well a president succeeds depends to a great extent on his crafting and delivery
of the words and symbols of the moment, and the most successful presidents have been
known for their strong rhetorical abilities: Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald
Reagan, and William J. Clinton, to name just a few.
In the process of examining those metaphors in APIAs, I find that presidents like to use
metaphors when they talk about three topics: political faith, international relationship, and
economy. The first two can be proved in all the three samples, and we can find the last one
(economy) in President Reagan’s address. Why do the three presidents all choose to employ
metaphors on the topics of political faith and international relationship? Why do metaphors
on economy appear only in Reagan’s address? The following analysis answers the two
questions.
Look at the examples of political faith situation.
1) The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our
country and all who serve it, and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
(John F. Kennedy)
2) They will go away because we, as Americans, have the capacity now, as we have had
in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion
of freedom.(Ronald Reagan)
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3) It is the inborn hope of our humanity, and ideal we carry but do not own, a trust we
bear and pass along; and even after nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet to
travel.(George W. Bush)
More than 50 percent of the metaphors used in APIAs appear in the context of political
faith, especially when the president talks about freedom, democracy, and equality. Freedom,
democracy, and equality are the aims that all Americans pursue, and the goals every
American government pursues (at least they want their people believe they are working on
the goals). Presidents prefer to employ metaphors there just because of those political faiths’
characteristics. The following offers three possible explanations for this observation.
a. The American government has to give their political act a righteous excuse, to show
their people what they do is done for people’s good. Nothing is better than freedom,
democracy, and equality—that every person wants to own. However, these dreams
are easy to be forgotten in daily life. Thus, presidents would like to grasp the chance
of their inaugural ceremony to emphasize and reemphasize them. Since the total
number of that politicians mention political faith is large, it is not surprising that the
metaphors related to this topic amount to a large quantity.
b. Freedom, democracy, and equality are all abstract concepts. They are hard to
understand or imagine. This feature influences the encouraging effects presidents
intend to create on their people. Metaphors here do a big favor. Changing the
abstract concepts into concrete and visual image usually help the speaker arouse the
audience’s emotion and encourage them to make effort for the mutual good.
c. Usually, political faith such as freedom and democracy cannot be fulfilled in a short
time, and the way to freedom and democracy must be set with all kinds of obstacles,
so as a president, he has the obligation to remind his people of all these difficulties.
Metaphor plays an important role in telling people to be patient, brave, and persistent,
as well as warning them to be ready for potential threat and accept temporary failure.
Then we examine the situation of international relationship.
4) …and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.(John F.
Kennedy)
5) …and I thank you and your people for all your help in maintaining the continuity
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which is the bulwark of our Republic.(Ronald Reagan)
6) And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm.(George W. Bush)
Many Americans are concerned about the internal economy, unemployment, and social
welfare, because these are closely related to their life. However, politicians try to persuade
them into looking outside, since the international relationship influences the government’s
political trend and economic benefits. Thus, presidents employ metaphors when they talk about
international relationship for the following reasons:
a. They attempt to let audience better understand the political environment in the world.
b. They attempt to give their audience a clear impression of friend and foe, allies and
enemies, or sometimes just countries which support or oppose their policies.
c. They want their people to have the feeling of home—America, and abroad—other
countries.
Metaphor related to economy only appears in President Reagan’s address. It has
something to do with the economic situation in that time. At the beginning of the 1980s,
America faced severe inflation and people had to bear a more than 20% interest rate. More
than 80 million people were unemployed. The national debt came to 1,000 billion dollar. The
biggest task of Reagan’s first government was to revive economy. The economic policy he
carried was called Reaganomics. Since economy was what worried him most, he
certainly put this topic a conspicuous and important place, and tried to win people’s
support. As a consequence, we can find several examples in his inaugural address.
7) In the days ahead I will propose removing the roadblocks that have slowed our
economy and reduced productivity.(Ronald Reagan)
8) Is it time to reawaken this industrial giant, to get government back within its means,
and to lighten our punitive tax burden.(Ronald Reagan)
3.2 The usage of metaphors in APIAs
I count the metaphors in all the three addresses, as shown in Table:
Here one thing should be mentioned. When the same metaphor appears in one speech
more than once, it is counted as one metaphor. For example, in George W. Bush’s speech, the
word “defend” appears in different forms several times—“defending, defenses, defend”, I
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count them as one.
Metaphors
Military Affairs
Fire and Light
Journey
Nature
Building
Physical Suffering
People
Finance
Total
Table 1
J. F. Kennedy
Ronald Reagan
4
4
4
2
1
0
1
0
2
4
2
3
0
1
1
1
15
15
George W. Bush
3
0
6
6
0
0
2
2
19
From the calculation result, we can see that metaphor does play an active role in the
speeches. If we carefully examine every metaphor, it is not difficult to classify them into the
flowing categories.
3.2.1 Metaphors of military affairs
The most frequently used metaphor in presidents’ inaugural address is metaphors of
military affairs, which means the words the presidents choose point to something comparable
to military affairs while the context itself is not related to military affairs.
Examples:
1) We renew our pledge of support: to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for
invective, to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak…(John F. Kennedy)
2) And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion…(John
F. Kennedy)
3) Now the trumpet summons us again…(John F. Kennedy)
4) In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the
role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.(John F. Kennedy)
5) As for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries, they will be
reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people. We will
negotiate it, sacrifice for it; we will not surrender for it—now or ever.(Ronald
Reagan)
6) Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the
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world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is
a weapon our adversaries in today’s world do not have.(Ronald Reagan)
7) Our national courage has been clear in times of depression and war, when
defending common dangers defined our common good.(George W. Bush)
8) We will build our defenses beyond challenge…(George W. Bush)
9) The enemies of liberty and our country should make on mistake…(George W.
Bush)
10) We will defend our allies and our interests…(George W. Bush)
11) I ask you to seek a common good beyond your comfort; to defend needed
reforms against easy attacks…(George W. Bush)
The metaphors of military affairs usually include three categories: metaphors of defense,
metaphors of attack, and metaphors of battle. This classification can be done on the basis of
the semantic orientation of the metaphor keyword. In the examples above, the words
“defend” and “shield” are the metaphors of defense, in the same category of which there are
words like “protect”. “Attack” is a clear sign of metaphors of attack, and meanwhile “defeat”,
“hit”, “beat”, “conquer”, “destroy”, “beachhead” and “trumpet” (usually, when soldiers hear
trumpet, they assault) can be categorized into this group. Metaphors of battle include “battle”,
“fight”, “conflict”, and “campaign”. “Defense” metaphors are most commonly used in the
presidents’ addresses.
3.2.2 Metaphors of fire and light
Metaphors of fire and light often involve words such as “fire”, “light”, “glow”, “flame”,
“torch” and something related to light, like “beacon”. Most of them deliver a feeling of
brightness.
Examples:
12) Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the
torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans…(John F. Kennedy)
13) The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our
country and all who serve it, and the glow from that fire can truly light the
world.(John F. Kennedy)
14) We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do
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not now have freedom.(Ronald Reagan)
15) The Declaration of Independence flames with his eloquence.(Ronald Reagan)
3.2.3 Metaphors of journey
Metaphors of journey often rest on the word of “burden” or the phrase “bear the burden”.
Though some scholars think that we should reconsider whether “burden” should be counted
as a metaphor, I prefer to include it because “burden” means something that is carried, weight,
and this word is often used in the context of journey. Other metaphors of journey are words
related to walk, step, travel, and so on.
Examples:
16) …we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any
friend…(John F. Kennedy)
17) …though our nation has sometimes halted, and sometimes delayed, we must
follow no other course.(George W. Bush)
18) It is the inborn hope of our humanity, and ideal we carry but do not own, a trust
we bear and pass along; and even after nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet
to travel.(George W. Bush)
3.2.4 Metaphors of nature
Here nature means natural environment, including weather, mountains, water, plants,
animal, and so on.
Examples:
19) And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion…(John
F. Kennedy)
20) Through much of the last century, America’s faith in freedom and democracy was
a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many
nations.(George W. Bush)
21) And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm. (George W. Bush)
3.2.5 Metaphors of building
Building here ranges broadly, from structures built for human habitation to
embankments raised as safeguards.
Examples:
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22) …and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.(John F.
Kennedy)
23) And let every other power know that this hemisphere intends to remain the master
of its own house.(John F. Kennedy)
24) …and I thank you and your people for all your help in maintaining the continuity
which is the bulwark of our Republic.(Ronald Reagan)
25) They will go away because we, as Americans, have the capacity now, as we have
had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest
bastion of freedom.(Ronald Reagan)
26) Well, this administration’s objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing
economy that provides equal opportunity for all Americans, with no barriers born
of bigotry or discrimination.(Ronald Reagan)
27) In the days ahead I will propose removing the roadblocks that have slowed our
economy and reduced productivity.(Ronald Reagan)
In this category, some words like “bulwark” and “bastion” can also be classified into the
metaphor of military, but in case they are counted twice, I put them into the metaphor of
building, because after all they are buildings in nature..
3.2.6 Metaphors of physical suffering
Physical suffering here includes not only the agony human suffer, but also things or acts
causing those sufferings, such as “chains”, “bonds”, “smother”, “stifle”.
Examples:
28) To those peoples in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the
bonds of mass misery…(John F. Kennedy)
29) …to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of
poverty.(John F. Kennedy)
30) The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades.(Ronald
Reagan)
31) Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity,
not stifle it.(Ronald Reagan)
3.2.7 Metaphors of people
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This kind of metaphors includes different social states of people, different occupations,
and the magic image of people, for example angels, giants, and fairies.
Examples:
32) Is it time to reawaken this industrial giant, to get government back within its
means, and to lighten our punitive tax burden.(Ronald Reagan)
33) …a story of a slave-holding society that became a servant of freedom…(George
W. Bush)
34) And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm.(George W. Bush)
3.2.8 Metaphors of finance
This category refers to something related to business, like “buy”, “sell”, “pay”, “afford”,
and the phrase “pay the price” appears most frequently.
Examples:
35) …that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship…(John F.
Kennedy)
36) They add up to only a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our
freedom.(Ronald Reagan)
37) Some seem to believe that our politics and afford to be petty because in a time of
peace, the stakes of our debates appear small.(George W. Bush)
3.3 Causes and effects of metaphors in APIAs
Metaphors have the shared effect on politic speech—make the abstract and abstruse
politic language concrete and visual so that it is easy to be understood by most casual
audience, arouse the audience’s emotion, and win the audience’s agreement or support. As for
the presidents’ inaugural address, different categories of metaphors have their specific effects.
3.3.1 Causes and effects of metaphors of military affairs
Howe says that “when politics must be portrayed as ruthless and treacherous, speakers
usually resort to military metaphors.” (Howe, 1988, P95) Politicians employ military
metaphors for the following reasons:
a. They want to clarify two opposed powers, to make clear their own position and
evaluation, to remind the audience of their attitude towards what they oppose;
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b. They want to emphasize the personal sacrifice and the rigorous hardship the nation needs
to make;
c. They want the audience to understand the abstract social goals in a simple and concrete
way;
d. They want to highlight the importance of some political activities by comparing them to a
war.
Nearly all the metaphors of military affairs have the similar rhetorical pattern: it is either
for abstract social goals that are positively evaluated such as freedom, democracy, human
rights, etc, or against social phenomenon that are negatively evaluated such as poverty and
discrimination.
It is not hard to find out that metaphors of defenses account for a great percentage of the
whole group of military metaphors. Among Examples 1 to 11, six sentences have metaphors
of defenses, and there are only two attack words. This phenomenon may reveal the truth that
we are in the times of peace, and nobody wants to attack others unless his/her rights have
been violated first. Both the government and the common people hope to prevent their
freedom, their rights, their interest from the threat of others’ invasion. As a result, defending
becomes the mainstream of military metaphors.
3.3.2 Causes and effects of metaphors of fire and light
Metaphors of fire and light are used in similar ways to express something positive. For
instance, “torch” has its significant symbolic meaning in Western countries, especially in
America, that is freedom. The torch held by the Statue of Liberty in New York City is a
typical example. Since torch relay is a common activity in Olympic Games, and it is a
common sense that it should be passed to next one in public. The metaphor J.F. Kennedy uses
here just tries to express that the spirit of seeking freedom has been passed from generation to
generation, and will be passed down to next generation, too.
His second metaphor of “light” actually involves the original quality of
light—illumination. When ancestors took their new exploration in jungles and caves, fire
gave them light to illuminate the way under their feet, so “fire” and “glow” are usually used
to symbolize guidance on the way of exploration, or faith, belief, and other spiritual power
that can encourage and support people to do something. The “flames” in Reagan’s address
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expresses a similar meaning.
“Beacon” is a guiding device, such as a lighthouse located on a coast. When ships sail
on the sea, sailors know they are close to the land as they see a beacon, which may mean food,
fresh water, medicine, and, most importantly, hope.
Thus, it is not hard to find that metaphors of fire and light are always used to express
encouragement, hope, guide, and freedom. When politicians try to emphasize the target they
want to achieve, they use this kind of metaphor to let audience feel how great and bright their
faith is, how close and wonderful the victory is, although the truth may not be as good as they
describe. “Light” is also used in contrast to “darkness”, which may symbolize evil power or
hostile force. However, this meaning is not reflected in the samples of research.
3.3.3 Causes and effects of metaphors of journey
The metaphor of journey has some similar effects as the metaphor of military affairs.
Check all the metaphors of journey, and we will find that more than a half involve a
phrase—“bear the burden”. Politicians employ these metaphors for the following reasons:
a. They want to emphasize the hardship of achieving their social goals;
b. They remind audience in a euphemistic way that it will take long time and there will be
stress, difficulties and frustrations in the process;
c. Just like taking a journey, the steps are sometimes fast and sometimes slow. If the
politician is talking about economic development or revolution phase, the metaphor of
journey can help him explain the uneven speed or temporary stagnancy.
3.3.4 Causes and effects of metaphors of nature
John F. Kennedy uses the metaphor of “jungle” to describe a terrible environment.
Jungle means a dense thicket, and also can be explained as a dense, confused mass. Actually,
when a president would like to let his people know the political or economic environment of
the country is not very good, he would uses some words related to bad weather or bad natural
environments, as we can see in Examples 19, 20, 21.
In the mean time, they also need positive images to represent America and Americans,
so “rock” symbolize America’s faith in freedom and democracy is as solid as rock, and is
taking root in many nations as a seed upon the wind. Two groups of metaphor here are two
groups of contrast, making the audience clear that America’s Attic Faith will not change or
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shake even when encountering a bad outer environment as severe as “storm”.
The dramatic effect is then to make the serious issue vivid and easy to be understood by
common people. However, there is a tendency that most of the presidents use bad natural
environments to symbolize bad situations, but seldom do they use good ones to symbolize
good situations. Perhaps this is because they tend to exaggerate bad conditions to warn their
people and show their ability in adversity. That is politicians’ strategy.
3.3.5 Causes and effects of metaphors of building
Metaphors of building perform different functions, that is to say, the kind of building
shows the specific functional quality of the building. For example, “bulwark” in Reagan’s
inaugural address means protection, and “barriers” and “roadblocks” mean obstacles.
It is interesting to note “home” and “house” here. Although they have a similar meaning,
they cannot exchange with each other in J.F Kennedy’s address. The notion of “house” differs
from the notion of “home”. “House” seems to imply a notion of control and protection, while
the concept of “home” implies something intimate (Cao, 46). “Home” is used when
politicians want to evoke a strong positive emotion. Maybe it is intimacy. “House” is used to
emphasize the mastery and control. Besides, “home” still can be used to express the meaning
of the motherland, as opposed to abroad. (please refer to Example 22)
3.3.6 Causes and effects of metaphors of physical suffering
If someone tells you a misery, you may not imagine it, but if he describes it as the
misery of being chained, you probably understand it. That is why politicians use metaphors of
physical suffering.
Everyone can feel the discomfort of their body. Politicians employ words such as
“bonds”, “chains”, “ills”, etc, in order to help the audience understand abstract misery that the
nation is suffering. People feel the suffering of economy as if they themselves were suffering
illness.
3.3.7 Causes and effects of metaphors of people
In the samples, all the metaphors of people are used to symbolize America, in a positive
way. They have something in common; that is, they endow America with a fine image, no
matter whether it is as powerful as a giant industry , or as loyal as a servant to fight for
freedom, or as strong as an angel to confront terrible environment. Generally speaking, the
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presidents always try to give their people encouragement by defining America as a wonderful
and unbeatable person. Here the concept of people is not limited to human beings. It also
includes other spirits and living things.
3.3.8 Causes and effects of metaphors of finance
In an economic and financial world, nobody does not care about money, and everybody
more or less has some financial knowledge, even just as simple as “buy in” and “sell out”.
Maybe that is the reason why the presidents like to use metaphors of finance. They think that
will make people understand what they are talking about. After all, buying things is a normal
activity in daily life.
Metaphors of finance have another effect. It is known to all that business includes pay
on two sides. One pays the money, and then he can get the commodity he wants. In a political
world, it is the same. When politicians want to achieve a political goal, they must make
efforts, which can be called “pay the price”. This kind of metaphor tells people that there is
no free lunch. You want to gain? You must pay first!
3.3.9 Summary
Although different types of metaphors have different functions in APIAs, they all have
some functions in common, which can be summarized as follows:
a. Metaphors help the audience understand abstract and unfamiliar affairs through changing
them into familiar topics. After all, many audiences are common people who do not have
much political knowledge.
b. Some political affairs are not suitable to be explained to people too clearly, or politicians
are not willing to clarify some touchy subjects, so they employ metaphors to make the
speech implicit. Metaphors help them avoid unnecessary troubles.
c. Metaphors make the addresses impressive and vivid.
CONCLUSION
The present research of three American presidents’ inaugural addresses aims at studying
metaphor’s effects in political speeches. Special attention is paid to analyzing the situations in
which presidents use metaphors, the different kinds of metaphors they used, and their
perspective rhetorical functions.
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The research shows that presidents like to employ metaphors when they talk about
topics of political faith, international relationship and economy. Their main reasons are as
follows: First, metaphors can help their audience feel these abstract concepts in a visible and
imaginable way; second, they want to give their policy a righteous excuse, so they emphasize
Americans’ mutual dream—freedom, democracy, and equality through the use of metaphors;
third, metaphors help their audience recognize clearly the friend and foe in the international
relationship; fourth, metaphors help them explain the current economy situation, especially
the macro-environment common people do not see.
The research also categorizes all the metaphors in the three addresses into eight groups
according to the use of vehicles, namely: metaphors of military affairs, metaphors of fire and
light, metaphors of journey, metaphors of nature, metaphors of building, metaphors of
physical suffering, metaphors of people, and metaphors of finance. They have different
effects and functions in delivering message and emotion.
The third finding of the research is that the use of metaphor differs from each other
because of the situation of time. President Reagan’s address is a typical example. When he
was elected as American president, the country was encountering severe financial crisis. As a
consequence, he is the only one of the three that uses many metaphors on the topic of
economy. That can be summed up in one sentence: all the political speeches reflect the
politicians’ attitude and main political focus.
It is important to remember that what is reported here is only a pilot study since the
findings are only drawn on the basis of three American presidents’ inaugural addresses. Also
because of the limitation of time and research ability, it does not dig into other factors that
influence the usage of metaphors in APIAs, for example, the background of the president. It
is possible that the president who has served the army prefers using metaphors of military
affairs. The result will remain hypothetical until being confirmed by further study.
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