Abigail Adams Letter Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Abigail Adams wants John Adams to grow and become a good politician, as she states in her letter. Adams starts by wishing they had a good voyage, and quickly turns to addressing her son’s naivete, and obtuseness. Abigail says that she wouldn't have sent John away if his reluctance was backed by thought, and even goes as far as to say he wasn’t “capable of judging what was most for [his] good.”
After verbally assaulting her son, Abigail says that she doesn’t want her decision to tear them apart. She uses lament, which changes her tone from acerbic to assuaging, which quickly turns back into abusing him, and says that she was right, and he was wrong; she calls him ignorant again, but this time in the past tense. Trying to move from the past to the future, Abigail talks about his potential by using a metaphor to show how his knowledge will
John has to get his hands dirty to grow states Abigail: she believes her son’s job will be to build the, soon to be, United States of America. This is where the true goal of Abigail reveals itself when she says it is John’s “lot to be an eyewitness of these calamities.” She wants John to return to America to learn firsthand how to be a politician and be at the forefront of the rebuilding process. Abigail calls “war, tyranny, and desolation... the scourges of” god, and wants John to see that they don’t happen again.
She spends the last paragraphs complimenting him to convince him to come home. This is an interesting contrast from the beginning, where she rebukes him and calls him stupid even though she still doesn’t call him smart. Abigail merely gives him credit for a strong moral compass, that always points toward truth and justice. This shift means to convince John to head Abigail’s request to return. It also shows her support for John as a viable leader of the United