Stooksbury 1

Anna Stooksbury

Mrs. Tatum

AP Language

25 January 2021

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, The Berliner

Following the conclusion of World War II, the communist Soviet Union gained control of

much of Eastern Europe including the eastern half of Germany and erected a wall in the midst of

the night on August thirteenth of 1961 to maintain their grip on East Germany. The United

States, under the recently elected leadership of John Kennedy, quickly launched aid campaigns

for the prevention of communist expansion and creation of a new society of freedom and

prosperity. In a pledge of support and commitment to the citizens of West Berlin, United States

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy asserts his desire to end communist rule in Germany by

illustrating trust in his peers and the people of Germany’s ability to fight for freedom,

challenging the plethora of pro-communist sentiments, and demanding moral and literal

correction of Germany through reconstruction with basis in establishing unity ultimately

challenging the German people to have faith and rise up in confidence despite being the focal

point of Soviet Union’s communist control.

Kennedy exudes a proud sentiment towards the people of West Berlin through his

application of anaphora to show his commitment to their fight for freedom and give them hope

for the future of Germany. President Kennedy employs the phrase “I am proud” to introduce the

speech as a whole creating a personal connection between the people of West Berlin and himself

which in turn expresses their shared desire to foster a great nation (Kennedy 1). Kennedy utilizes

this phrase again when he explained his excitement to be collaborating with such prestigious
 Stooksbury 2

political reformers such as General Lucius Clay and the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer

(Kennedy 1). This application has a dual purpose; the repeated sentence structure maintains

Kennedy’s tone and bolsters the patriotism of the citizens of Berlin. The mutual respect that

President Kennedy implies exists between Berliners and the United States reaffirms the felicitous

relationship between them. He slightly alters the presentation of the previous phrase to “I take

pride” in the conclusion of the speech creating a well-rounded piece of literature that directly

correlates its introduction to the ideas presented in the closing (Kennedy 16). This final assertion

of Kennedy’s ensures that the West German people that they will be supported in their endeavors

to seek verification and suggests that the people of West Germany support Americans in their

endeavors to end communism.

Kennedy reaffirms his proclamations to provide protection against communism by

challenging arguments supporting communism for proving to Berliners that their opposition

towards communist ideas proves to hold great strength when they fight together. Kennedy

provides a series of justifications given by communist supporters such as hot “communism is the

wave of the future” and “permits us to make economic progress” through its practices (Kennedy

5 & 9). Kennedy negates these claims with the repetition of “Let them come to Berlin” following

each claim to communism’s position (Kennedy 4, 6, 8, 10). This strategy is applied to invalidate

the claims made by redirecting attention to the situation of East Germany and its failing

economy, crumbling infrastructure, and growing civil unrest due to the introduction of

communist rule. President Kennedy concedes “democracy is not perfect” but the free world has

never had to construct physical barriers to contain their people (Kennedy 11). President

Kennedy’s strategic diction applauds “the vitality”, “the force”, “the hope”, “and the

determination” exhibited by the Germans for almost two decades (Kennedy 11). He is
 Stooksbury 3

highlighting the observed comparison in merit between people of free nations versus communist

nations to expose the more desirable government from evidence.

Kennedy describes a possible image of peace for the future of Berlin by making amends

through reconstruction of the morality of Europe through new beginnings based on unity and

freedom. In the speech, Kennedy creates a relationship between unity and freedom such that one

cannot exist without the other as “free men” can make “free choices” for the benefit of bringing

peace and stability “to all people” (Kennedy 12). Essentially, men are not free unless they are

unified, and they are not unified unless they are free which Kennedy chooses to express to the

citizens of Berlin to inspire them to come together to achieve the freedom, they so desire.

President Kennedy later utilizes tricolon when asking the audience to look past the difficulties of

the present and onto “the hopes of tomorrow”, “the advance of freedom”, and “the day of peace

with justice” they yearn for (Kennedy 13). Through this application of deliberative rhetoric

President Kennedy is able to make his argument appear more attainable and bolster the

confidence of the audience in the fact that they will see a day in which this devastating grip of

communism will fall away and leave a metaphorical “defended island of freedom” (Kennedy

13). This so-called island will be defended because of the established unity within it allowing an

effective society to develop and enjoy paramount satisfaction.

In today’s society, this speech is a highly regarded literary masterpiece that takes

precedence in modern world issues surrounding equal rights due to Kennedy’s assertions. He

mentioned how freedom cannot be achieved unless unified which correlates to the need to come

together now to obtain equal rights. Additionally, he used exemplification of a real-world

problem to counter an argument just as the proponents of the equal rights movement have done.

President Kennedy also placed his trust in the people suffering to fight for their cause and share a
 Stooksbury 4

bondage of trust to resolve the issue just as politicians today work with movements to achieve

equal rights for all. Kennedy’s argument here has been specified to fit the situation of Berlin, but

the tactics used are universally applicable for the past, present, and future.