Abigail Adams Essay (question 2)

                     On January 12, 1780, Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her son, John Quincy Adams who would be the future president of the U.S. In this, she gives her son advice as he embarks on this journey with his father and to take this experience to the fullest. She uses a variety of ideas and themes to list and emphasize the importance of advantageously using one’s natural talent and opportunities to succeed.

            Abigail Adams, in the first half of the letter, writes in a tone of flattery and encourages her son to be hard-working and to advise him. This is evident when she starts off the letter with “my dear son” and creating the sense that she wouldn’t be rebuking him but that she would give him advice on his journey with his father, a U.S diplomat and future U.S president. Next, she appeals to him by talking about the importance of his safety and how that concerns her the most so that it would lead to his attention toward her advice to him. She also compliments him in that he has a very good understanding in the English language and how he should use all his advantages and opportunities to the fullest to become a world leader. She flatters him by emphasizing his natural talent but then also talking about the necessity of his hard work and effort. She tries to indirectly instill a sense of guilt in him if he doesn’t use his blessings and opportunities to the fullest.

            In the second half of the letter, Adams invokes a patriotic tone in her son in order to instill a sense of responsibility and again, guilt trip. She indirectly implies that he is a genius like Cicero, alluding to his writings about the “tyranny of Catiline, Verres, and Mark Anthony” (line 27). She once again flatters him while making a historical allusion. Adams invokes a patriotic tone and calls her son to come out of his present lethargic/ lazy state of mind by talking about the horrible “war, tyranny and desolation” (line 41) in the U.S. Furthermore, Adams maternally implies that she has inverted her life in him and by disregarding her advice; he will prove her life as a waste and a failure, again invoking a sense of guilt and responsibility. She ends the letter with a strong and emotional maternal sense, stating that she strongly hopes to see him become more diligent and mature not only for the good of the country but also for her.

            Adams wrote this letter in a very uncertain time in American history when America was still on its way of improving and establishing good basic standards.  She writes this all without even dreaming about the possibility of having a president, and even more for her husband and son. She wrote to her son in a strong maternal tone, hoping to make him a great leader and raising him well so that she could ensure a bright future for her family and country.