ects of the situation, Kennedy believes. The exculpatory imagery is another matter. Explaining what happened and letting the chips fall where they may are not enough; the purpose of this speech is to offer the audience a reason for forgiving Kennedy his mistakes. The intention is to project an image of candor, courageousness and reconciliation.
Given the purpose of the address, not surprisingly the Chappaquiddick Speech structurally follows a narrative pattern of organization that ends with a climax of metaphorical and rhetorical imagery designed to lead the audience to the desired conclusion--that is, that a man of such candor and deep feeling must be a person of character deserving to remain a U.S. senator. To a certain extent, Kennedy had no choice in his pattern of organization: as the text of the speech makes clear, several public questions arose about the order of events and what occurred during each one. Some of these questions only Kennedy himself could answer, as sole living witness to the accident. Other questions, involving time frames and two friends, concerned confusing actions that Kennedy would want to present from his point of view. This point of view is what separates the Kennedy narrative from a simple chronological ordering of the events: throughout the address, the senator, as the story's protagonist, is careful to provide insights and personal observations on the events as they unfold.
The narrative is interrupted occasionally in order for Kennedy to address specific controversies. The most notable interruption is for squelching speculations of his drinking and of a romantic liaison between himself and the victim, Mary Jo Kopechne: "There is no truth, no truth whatsoever, to the widely circulated suspicions of immoral conduct that have been leveled at my behavior and hers regarding that evening. There has never been a private relationship between us of any kind." These interruptions are frequent...