Antithesis In I Have A Dream Speech

Ancan be
illustrated by juxtaposing two arguments which oppose each other. It can also be illustrated by
a contrast of oppositional ideas such as "Give me liberty or give me death" (Patrick
Henry, 1775). In describing the current state of inequality, despite the Emancipation
Proclamation, King writes:

One hundred years later, the
Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material
prosperity.

Island and ocean are not necessarily
opposites but they are contrasting ideas. The significant antithesis in this sentence is the
combination of poverty and prosperity.

King also usesto convey the current
plight of African-Americans as compared to a hopeful future. In these next two lines, darkness
is the antithesis of the sun; and the quick sands are indicative of a hopeless sinking
situation, the antithesis being a solid foundation of brotherhood and equality.

Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of
segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the
quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

Two more examples of antithesis use imagery of the landscape and music: 

With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of
despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of
our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

The
antithesis of despair is hope. The antithesis of discord is harmony or a beautiful symphony.
These two lines help set up the series of lines rising to theof the speech. In each of these
lines, King declares "Let freedom ring" as the song of equality is sung throughout the
landscape of America.

The "I Have a Dream" speech is full of
antitheses because King is describing the current situation of racial inequality and the speech
is bursting with hope for future racial equality.