Sojourner Truth, a female African American and former slave, delivered her speech “Ain’t I a Woman?” at the women’s rights convention to fight against the injustice, hatred, and cruelty against women. Sojourner Truth talks about the way she has been treated in America, due to her skin color. In her speech, Sojourner Truth advocates for woman rights and the power that women have in changing the world. Truth’s use of rhetorical strategies; juxtaposition, pathos, repetition, and allusion help her deliver her message of equality for all women.
In the speech ‘Ain’t I a woman?,” Soujourner Truth uses juxtaposition, a rhetorical strategy for achieving her purpose as she compares how black and white women are treated. Truth refers to her audience while claiming that “ that man over there say that women needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or give me any best place! And ain’t I a woman?”(Truth 525). Truth states that men treat women with dignity when they help them get into carriages and give them a good place to live, allowing her audience to see the respect that men have on women; however, she then contradicts her claim by stating that although she is a woman too, she is not treated this way because of her skin color. Truth is not given the same respect that white women get. Men don’t bother to help her over mud puddles. Through the use of juxtaposition, Truth points out the difference of treatment that women get based on their skin color, an injustice and discrimination that she has experienced. She reminds her audience that she is also a woman that needs to be treated the same. Truth delivers her speech to an audience of white men and women. The use of juxtaposition serves as a purpose to remind her white audience to advocate for all women’s rights, not just white women. It also acts as a source of unity that could bring women together, despite their skin color.
Sojourner Truth’s speech appeals to emotions, a rhetorical strategy that conveys to her audience as she tells her personal story of motherhood. As a female slave, Truth states that she had “borne thirteen children, and seen ‘me mos’ all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me!”(Truth 525). Sojourner Truth shares her miserable life story of giving birth to thirteen children and then seeing them being sold into slavery. Her description of her personal story creates an image and pain that no mother would want to go through. She also talks about the only man that was there for her when she needed one. She refers to Jesus(Christ) as the only men that helped her, making all the white men in the audience reflect on the cruelty and injustice that they created on African American women. No white men or women would want to see their children being sold to complete strangers. Her story of motherhood is unlike any other story of a white mother. By using pathos to convey her personal story, Truth is able to convey emotion and connect emotionally to all the mothers present at the women’s rights convention.
Truth’s speech uses anaphora, a rhetorical device, to emphasize that she is also a woman and that women are also capable of doing things that men do. Throughout her speech, she repeats the phrase and question “ain’t I woman?”(Truth 525). She repeats this phrase because many people see her differently due to her skin color and gender. For Sojourner Truth, there’s no difference between men and women. Both men and women can accomplish the same things. She claims that she has “ploughed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I woman?”(Truth 525). By repeating this phrase, Sojourner Truth puts emphasize on the rhetorical question, hence making men realize that there’s no difference between men and women. The only difference is the way in which they look, but that shouldn’t be a problem when both men and women have the capacity to do the same things. It also allows her to question her audience and demand equal rights for women. Through anaphora, she embraces being a woman and reminds her audience that being a black woman doesn’t make her any less than being a white woman or a man.
Towards the end of her speech “ Ain’t I a Woman? ” Sojourner Truth uses an allusion to the Bible as she states that women have the power to change the world. Truth references a biblical story that most religious people could relate to. She mentions how men say, “women can’t have as much rights as men, ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing do with Him”(Truth 526). For Soujourner Truth and the religious people present at the women’s rights convention, she is able to question her audience and make them realize that thanks to a woman, their Christ was born. In the bible, it states that no man was needed to conceive Jesus. The use of an allusion to the bible allows Soujourner Truth to connect with many other religious people in her audience. She is able to make her audience reflect on the importance of women and their power to change the world for the better.
The use of rhetorical strategies allow Soujourner Truth to connect on a deeper level to her audience and achieve the purpose of advocating equal rights for all women. Through the use of juxtaposition she compares the treatment that women receive based on theirs skin color, which allows her to make her audience realize how unfair African American women are treated because of their skin color. She also suggests that if women are going to fight for women’s rights, it should include all woman of color and not just white woman. Through her use of pathos, or appealing to emotion, Truth is able to tell her devastating story of motherhood and convey emotion that allows her audience, specially women, to emotionally and personally understand her, and have compassion for her and the many other women that are going through similar injustices. Truth’s use of anaphora embraces what it’s like to be a woman and reminds her audience that women have the capacity to do what men do. It also makes men and women realize that gender shouldn’t be a factor that determines what one can do. The use of anaphora serves as a purpose to remind her audience that there’s no difference separating men and women other than injustice and inequality. As she ends her speech, she remind her audience of where their God came from by making references to her religion. She references the Bible’s story of the virgin Mary giving birth to Christ, making men realize that a woman had the power to change the world and make it a better place without the need of men. Sojourner Truth’s use of rhetorical devices allow her to achieve her purpose of showing her audience that she is a woman of color that deserves equal rights and treatment that white women and men get.