Chiasmus

A famous example of chiasmus (pronounced kai-as-mus) is from Malcolm X (1964):

We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us.

The speaker here is using a common phrase associated with the founding of the United States a a beacon of freedom and turning it on his head. The founding of the United States is seen as a beacon of freedom for the first European settlers who landed on Plymouth Rock.

However, from the perspective of African Americans who arrived as enslaved people and who Malcolm X speaks on behalf of, it was the exact opposite.

What is chiasmus?

Chiasmus is a rhetorical device that occurs when elements are repeated with their order reversed.

Another famous saying that uses chiasmus would be from John Kennedy’s inaugural speech (1961):

Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.

The sentiments being expressed by the two figures couldn't be more different. Malcolm X suggests to his speakers that the country owes them compensation and justice for a wrong done against them by said country. Kennedy suggests to his speakers that it is they who owe their country labor.

In short, there is a gulf in view between the two. Chiasmus is based on the Greek letter X, as it represents a reversal of order. In this article, we will discuss examples of chiasmus across prose, poetry, and speeches and how this figure attains its effects.

Why a chiasmus works

A chiasmus works for several reasons. Previously, we talked about rhetorical devices based on repetition, such as anaphora, epistrophe, symploce, and so on. With chiasmus, the effects are somewhat more complex.

Let’s look at the various reasons why a chiasmus will work. There are three main reasons underlying the effects of this rhetorical device.

• The structural reversal can reinforce the speaker’s point regarding reversal or reciprocity. 

• A chiasmus rests on convincing logic. The structural reversal appears to close the circuit of an argument.

• A chiasmus can be striking and memorable. 

The chiasmus can be used for a wide variety of occasions. But in this section, we will look at chiasmus as used in three instances. 

1. The chiasmus to describe reversals of action

2. The chiasmus to suggest reciprocity

3. The chiasmus to describe matches and mismatches

1. Examples of Chiasmus: Reversals of action

In this variety of chiasmus, actions stated at the beginning of the statement are reversed by the end of it. 

Chesterton, What’s Wrong with the World (1910):

Men need not trouble to alter conditions. Conditions will soon alter men.

Paine, Common Sense (1776):

For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other. 

Thoreau, Walden (1854):

We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us.

2. Examples of Chiasmus: Reciprocity 

Reciprocity in chiasmus occurs when reciprocal elements or concepts are juxtaposed alongside each other:

Paine, The American Crisis (1783):

England finds that she cannot conquer America, and America has no wish to conquer England. 

Hazlitt, Mr. Brougham (1825): 

He sometimes leaves them in lurch, and is sometimes left in the lurch by them. 

Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859):

I am a disappointed drudge, sir. I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me.

3. Examples of Chiasmus: Matches and mismatches

In this type of chiasmus, there is a juxtaposition between elements that mirror each other or that don’t. 

Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby (1839): 

She has youth, you have money. She has not money, you have not youth. Tit for tat – quits – a match of Heaven’s own making!

Pitt, speech in the House of Commons (1743):

Our former minister thought of nothing but negotiation when he ought to have thought of nothing but war; the present prime minister has thought of nothing but war, or at least its resemblance, when he ought to have thought of nothing but negotiation. 

Conan Doyle, A Scandal in Bohemia (1891):

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. 

References

Farnsworth, W. (2010). Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric

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Cite this EminentEdit article

Antoine, M. (2024, September 16). Chiasmus. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/chiasmus