John Quincy Analysis

Mothers don’t have an easy job. They watch as their children grow up. They watch as their children leave off to college. They watch as their children live as adults. Surely it was a struggle during the time period (1780s’) in which Mrs. Abigail Adams watched her sons become men in all the unfairness life gave. Adams writes to her son, John Quincy, for the purpose of advising him on the journey to France. Admittedly, Adams uses the guidance of an author that “compares a judicious traveller to a river” where with distance “rich veins of minerals...improves” their “qualities.” The underlying message being that the farther John Quincy goes the further “understanding” of the world he will gain, like how the river widens “its stream” as it “flows from its source.” Adams wants him to go on this trip in order to attain “improvement” and “wisdom” for the “experience,” that he will acquire while on the voyage. Given that John Adams Sr. is a diplomat, to France for the American colonies, it would be obvious that John Quincy has “superior advantages” over others. Adams relates John Quincy to Cicero as well in respect to how John Quincy’s “knowledge of the [French] language...give[s]”
Repeatedly she uses “my son” as a way to display her sentiment for the purpose of indirectly telling her son that she loves him. Adams demonstrates uneasiness for John Quincy while he’s away, hoping that “enemies” or “dangers” from “the sea” haven’t found him. No one wants their child to become endangered or find harm while away from home. Even describes herself as “particularly...affectionate.” Adams would like John Quincy to have a sense of “justice,” to know between right and wrong. She would like him to have a sense of “fortitude,” to have courage in a time of adversity. As well as to have a sense of “manly virtue,” to have the qualities of a well grown man when it’s all said and