A Tempest

Summary: With the help of Ariel, Prospero conjures up a storm that brings Gonzalo, Alonso, Antonio, Trinculo, Stephano, and Ferdinand to his island. Prospero holds a ceremony with all present to celebrate the marriage of his daughter, Miranda, to Ferdinand. All the characters, except for Ariel, Caliban, and Prospero, then sail back to Europe.
Paraphrase: Act II, Scene i, Page 27
Caliban: Do you believe in being a coward? In surrender? In submission? If someone hits you once, you would allow them to hit you again. That is not the way I operate.
Ariel: That is not what I meant, and you know it. I don't believe in physical retaliation, or surrender. We need to change the person in charge. Unsettle his peace of mind, so he is forced to reevaluate his actions towards us.
Close Reading: "No violence, no submission either. Listen to me: Prospero is the one we've got to change."
In these lines, Ariel is clarifying to Caliban his position regarding their servitude. One thing I find interesting about the first sentence, is the way that violence and submission are juxtaposed. The structure of this sentence sets up this juxtaposition. By having both these words follow the word "no", it demonstrates that neither are desirable. The word "either" at the end suggests that the two words are antonymous. Looking at the denotations of these words, this is not necessarily true. However, the context in which these words appear makes this true. When Ariel refers to violence, he is referring to a violent opposition of authority. His reference to submission is referring to giving up to authority, or not opposing in any way. These are the two extreme options that Ariel and Caliban have for dealing with Prospero's authority. By stating that he does not want to pursue either of these options, Ariel is declaring that he wants to oppose the authority by non-violent means. This view starkly contradicts Caliban's plan for opposing Prospero. Caliban, as he states earlier in this act, wants to violently oppose Prospero. Caliban also states earlier in the play that he wants to be referred to as X from that point forward. Caliban's violent opposition, and his insistence upon being called X, makes me think that his character is meant to represent Malcom X. Ariel, on the other hand, is meant to represent Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I say this because of his non-violent views as well as the second sentence in the passage I have chosen. Ariel states that "Prospero is the one we've got to change." Throughout his life, Dr. King Jr. repeatedly stated that in order for blacks to gain equal rights, they had to change the way white people thought about them. I believe that Prospero, the force that is controlling Ariel and Caliban, is meant to be an embodiement of white oppression against blacks in this play. Therefore, when Ariel makes this statement about Prospero, he is really saying that the whole mindset of white people needs changing.