“Blowing in the Wind”: A Classic Appeal to Collective Consciousness Anonymous College

In “Blowing in the Wind,” Bob Dylan uses a Q and A format. He poses questions about the challenges facing humanity and asserts that the answers to the challenges are "blowin' in the wind." The response appears as a refrain at the end of each stanza. The answer is the same for each of the problems. This masterpiece of a song is a classic appeal to a collective consciousness. The blowing wind is symbolic of collective consciousness that would unify humanity and create a cohesive world governed by universal values such as empathy, peace, freedom, human dignity, truthfulness, and mindfulness.

First, Dylan appeals to the ideal of empathy in the first two lines. He uses the image of a man to underscore the importance of having empathy. He asks, “How many roads must a man walk down/Before you call him a man?” (Dylan, lines 1-2). This question alludes to the challenges that men endure by virtue of their masculinity. Society imposes extremely high conditions on men. Such conditions are symbolic of the rough roads they must traverse before their manhood is validated. Yet men are humans, too; they may get broken in the course of traversing the roads. Therefore, it is important to act emphatically toward man. Masculinity does not shield...