The Great Dictator Speech Analysis

Charlie Chaplin 's film The Great Dictator (1940) was released in the United Kingdom in December of 1940 and in the United States in March of 1941. World War II has already started, but the United States had yet to enter the War. The film mocks Adolf Hitler and his allies while showing the hardships that the Jews were facing while living in Germany. The film takes a sharp turn from a slapstick comedy to a call to overthrow fascism and to have compassion for our fellow man in the film 's final speech. We will examine the speech near the end of the film to see who the empirical audience is, how the tones of the speech are used to influence the audience, and what the purpose of the speech is. It is important to know that Charlie Chaplin is

He talks of the ills that are facing the world, of "Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel to little." This is letting the audience know that there needs to be change made in the world. It shows that there is a problem. While in this tone of voice, the audience sees a visual cue that represents despair that is going on in the world. He cuts to a scene of a woman laying on the ground, almost curled up in the fetal position. She looks like she is crying and has given up. This is a strong emotional tactic used to appeal to the pathos of his audience. He stays at the same tone of voice even when saying that the bad times will pass, but his tone drastically changes when he shifts his attention to a different

Second, Chaplin wants people to treat each other with compassion and kindness. Chaplin 's main purpose of the speech can be found at the end, where he says, "Let us fight to free the world ... Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men 's happiness. Soldiers! In the name of democracy, let us all unite." Chaplin builds to this ending by first telling the atrocities that are happening in the world, and then gives this call to action for people to fight for other 's happiness and freedom. This can also be a call to spread democracy throughout the