My Dear Wife Essay

683 Words3 Pages
Darling, Move a Little Closer John Downe, in his letter to his wife, persuades his spouse to emigrate to America by emphasizing the beauty of the independent country. Downe does this in order to justify his reasons to his wife to arrive to America; to present to her, and the rest of Downe’s family, that they can, indeed, sustain a life above the poverty line. He adopts a colloquial and sincere tone in order to illustrate multiple points to promote the beneficial ideas of his family moving to America. John Downe conveys his ideas about the protective and financially-free society America seems to be; by presenting the freedom he and his family could gain by living in the independent land. He begins the letter with a sincere tone towards his spouse, “My dear wife,” to imply that he, indeed, does care for his significant other. He continues to elaborate on the advantages by indicating that he has “the whole management of the factory.” Downe addresses this to express the prosperity he achieved by living in the free land, so that his wife is further persuaded to move to America. He does this to “sweeten” up the benefits as well as to impress his wife. As Downe continues, he adds the list of foods the farmer has on their table, “… I was welcome to come to his house at any time; they had on the table pudding, pyes, and fruit of all kind that was in season…” which implies that Downe, too, can improve his life in America as well as earn the same gains as the farmer. Downe includes this to prove that he has the ability to bring food to the table; like a father of the time is obligated to do. John Down shifts to compare the materialistic betterments of living in the country by adding the costs of different foods from America to England. He adds, “but there is plenty of room yet, and will for a thousand years to come,” this exaggeration to ensure that his wife will

More about My Dear Wife Essay

Open Document