I've Been to the Mountaintop

Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech reflects many of the themes and rhetorical devices for which King’s oratory is famous. Through his use of Biblical allusions and his advocation of nonviolence and unity in the face of injustice, King once more urges his listeners to take up the cause of fighting for human rights and social justice for all Americans.

King’s implied audience is the local Black community of Memphis, but his message touches upon his preoccupations regarding racial and economic justice more broadly. King’s foremost aim is to place the suffering of the sanitation workers within the larger framework of the fight for civil rights and equality. His approach highlights the universality of their struggle, elevating it from a local issue to a symbol of broader systemic justice.

Consequently, King dedicates a significant portion of his speech to exploring historical events. King recognizes the transformative period of the late 1960s, acknowledging the growing national consciousness and the backlash this progress elicited. He speaks of the violent crackdowns faced by the Black protestors and their allies, emphasizing how the activists remained “masters in [their] nonviolent movement in disarming police forces” (Paragraph 19, emphasis added). King’s emphasis on the “nonviolent movement” to which he belongs reflects his commitment to Gandhi’s principles of nonviolent civil disobedience (See: Background). In recalling how no amount of police brutality or provocation could break the spirit of the protestors, he depicts the Black activists as maintaining their moral integrity while remaining unwavering in their mission: “we’d go on before the water hoses and we would look at it, and we’d just go on singing ‘Over my head I see freedom in the air’” (Paragraph 21).

King also links the struggles of modern-day African Americans to achieve civil rights to that of the Biblical Hebrews in the Book of Exodus, urging them to see in these historical parallels The Importance of Unity and Civil Action: “[Pharaoh] kept the slaves fighting among themselves. But [...] When the slaves get together, that’s the beginning of getting out of slavery. Now let us maintain unity” (Paragraph 16, emphasis added). In speaking of the Biblical story of the Hebrews’ deliverance from enslavement, King both draws upon his Christian faith and encourages his audience to see themselves as a generation destined for a new deliverance: They will free themselves from racial and economic injustice, just as the Hebrews did, by standing firm in their dignity and united with one another in their struggle.  

King also emphasizes The Power of Selflessness and Personal Sacrifice in urging his audience to stand tall together. His proclamation, “We are saying we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God’s children” (Paragraph 10, emphasis added) stresses that African Americans must learn to think and act as a whole (“we”) instead of becoming distracted or intimidated by what is or is not best for one’s self on an individual level. King uses Jesus’s parable of the Good Samaritan (See: Symbols & Motifs) to illustrate the importance of putting aside one’s personal benefit for the sake of the wider community and the greater good: “That’s the question before you tonight. Not, ‘If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job[?]’ […] The question is, ‘If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?’” (Paragraph 37, emphasis added).

King also offers some insight into his own personal sacrifices for the movement. He recounts the story of an assassination attempt in New York City, which he narrowly survived—he later learned from his doctors that if he had sneezed, his injury would have killed him immediately. He recalls receiving a letter from a young white girl expressing relief for his survival, saying, “I’m so happy that you didn’t sneeze” (Paragraph 44). King then uses the rhetorical device of repetition (See: Literary Devices) through offering a series of statements beginning with “If I had sneezed” (Paragraph 45-51) to reflect on all of the great moments in the civil rights movement he would have missed out on if he had died at that time. King repeatedly emphasizes the power of sacrifice and unity in achieving great things, recalling moments from desegregation sit-ins (Paragraph 45) to the bus boycotts (Paragraph 46), to the March on Washington (Paragraph 49). His invocation of these milestones in the movement celebrate the strength of collective action when individuals are prepared to make sacrifices together.   

King’s speech also highlights The Endurance of Hope, especially when King closes his speech with a look into the future. He uses prophetic language that once more centers upon Biblical allusions. His references to having “been to the mountaintop” (Paragraph 55) are an allusion to Moses viewing the Promised Land for the freed Hebrews, once more positioning the civil rights struggles within a greater historical narrative of justice and liberation. King also draws parallels between his own leadership and that of Moses: Significantly, just as Moses was not allowed entry into the Promised Land in the Biblical story, so too does King foresee that he might also be denied taking that final step with his people: “I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!” (Paragraph 57, emphasis added). In assuring his audience they will reach the Promised Land “as a people” even if some—such as King himself—will not live to see it as individuals, King finishes his speech on a note that once more invokes the power of collective action while offering his audience a vision of a future world filled with the justice and harmony they are fighting for today.