Address To John Smith Analysis

Most likely, one has heard about the story of Pocahontas and John Smith. However, John Smith was not as loving and kind as he was portrayed. In the letter Address to Captain Smith, the speaker, Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas’ father, takes a condescending tone and addresses to the English settlers, especially John Smith, how the chief’s generous hospitality has not been appreciated. Literary devices such as rhetorical questions, antithesis, and repetition, diction, and pathos and ethos are exercised by Chief Powhatan to address his purpose and produce it as impactful as fully possible. First, Chief Powhatan uses many literary devices to address his purpose to Captain John Smith. Some counted devices are in Lines 5-6 (“Why should you take by force

For example, in Line 8, the chief emphasized how dependent the settlers are towards the tribe, and what would happen if the tribe shows the same hostility the British show them (“We can hide our provisions and fly into the woods. And then you must consequently famish by wrongdoing your friends”). The use of ‘friends’ in the line ‘fly into the woods’ is noteworthy, due to how it emphasizes how (1) the tribe’s congenial actions and aid should be enough to be considered as friends and emphasizes their hospitality and encourage; and how (2) the tribe can take away their help just as easily as they went and helped them. In addition, the word ‘fly’ in ‘fly into the woods’ not only demonstrates movement, but the word is ironic in the sense of how the the word implies an oppressed connotation, not a freed connotation as it is usually used for. In addition to this line, Lines 18-19 (“Captain Smith, this might soon be your fate too through your rashness and unadvisedness.”). The words ‘rashness’ and ‘unadvisedness’ emphasizes the foolhardiness that the English settlers might encounter if they pursue the life of force, belittlement, and unappreciativeness that they practice. It creates an image about their consequences of actions, and just how exactly they can be described. Other words would not have made the same