8/4/2019 ANALYSIS of Mary Fisher

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ANALYSIS

The Traveling Disease

A whisper of AIDS was delivered by Mary Fisher, the HIV-positive daughter of the wealthyand powerful republican fundraiser Max Fisher. Mary, the mother of two, Zachary and Max,

delivered this moving speech in ten minutes during the designated passing time at the Republican

National Convention in Houston Texas, 1992. As her speech progressed, the noisy, distracted

audience grew still and listened. She raised awareness for AIDS by diminishing stereotypes and

demonstrating how real people are affected by this traveling disease. Mary made her purpose

clear; she appealed to everyone in her audience whether at home or at the convention by using

beautiful language, and strong emotional appeal.

Two Hundred thousand Americans are dead or dying; a million or more are infected.

Worldwide forty million, or sixty million or a hundred million infections will be counted in the

coming few years. Marys purpose was to raise awareness and she does that by first giving

statistics of how many people are affected by this growing disease. When she delivered this

speech in 1992, AIDS awareness was minimal, while its mortality rate for victims was at its

highest in history. Her speech made it brutally clear that no one is safe. "Because unlike other

diseases, this one travels," Fisher also diminished the stereotype that you were only in danger if

you were gay; "If you believe you are safe, you are in danger. Because I was not hemophiliac, I

was not at risk. Because I was not gay, I was not at risk. Because I didn't inject drugs, I was not

at risk." Not only did she destroy the "gay stereotype" of AIDS victims, she also demolished all

the other ways that people thought they could only get AIDS. Mary made her passion clear that

her only purpose was to raise awareness to help find a cure by stating, "My call to the nation is a

plea for awareness."

"Because HIV asks only one thing of those it attacks: Are you human?" Mary Fisher was able to

relate to everyone in her audience by relating the disease to anyone and everyone who is human.

According torhetoricianJennifer J. McGee, Fishers approach to humanizing those affected by

ADIS, gives the disease personal connection to anyone. She redefined the people in the AIDS

community as full human beings rather than objects. Fisher's speech made an immediate

impression on the crowd because of the contrast it offered with the notably antigay and

religiously conservative tone. It (AIDS) doesn't care whether you are aDemocrator

Republican. It does not ask whether you are black or white, male or female, gay or straight,

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hemophilia/DS00218http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hemophilia/DS00218http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hemophilia/DS00218http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rhetoricianhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rhetoricianhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rhetoricianhttp://www.democrats.org/http://www.democrats.org/http://www.democrats.org/http://www.democrats.org/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rhetoricianhttp://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hemophilia/DS00218

8/4/2019 ANALYSIS of Mary Fisher

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young or old." By stating all those different types of people, Fisher was able to reach everyone in

her audience successfully.

Fisher uses many rhetorical devices to add rhetorical creditability and to enhance her speech.

Some of her rhetorical devices include;anecdote,metaphor,pathosanddidactic. Her entire

speech was didactic because she was persuading people not to place stereotypes on a person just

because they have AIDS because you may not know how they got it. "To the millions of you

who are strong, I issue this plea: Set aside prejudice and politics to make room for compassion

and sound policy." By using persuasive language that appeals to emotion, Fisher successfully

applied pathos to her speech. She also told the story ofPastor Niemollerwhen he came out of

theNazideath camps to say, "They came after the Jews and I was a Jew, so I didn't protest...

They came after me, and there was no one left to protest." This anecdote added substance and

creditability to her speech because she compared herself to the Pastor. This anecdote was

significant because it made the point that if she didn't say something no one would. One main

metaphor Fisher used was comparing the AIDS community with family. By framing the AIDS

community as a family, Fisher could easily fit herself into her speech by presenting herself in the

daughter and mother roles to which she was accustomed, which supplied sufficient usage of

metaphor.

By the end of the night Mary Fisher had stunned the audience, and had reached her goal which

was to raise awareness of AIDS and its effects on society. She accomplished this by calling out

to every human and showing her audience how everyone is alike. She also effectively used

stories and comparisons to further her point of unity and compassion. Fisher helped erase some

prejudices that were before held to the AIDS victims and demonstrated that everyone is affected

in some way by the AIDS epidemic.

Comments

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