How Does Benjamin Franklin Use Irony In Notes Concerning The Savages

In “Notes Concerning the Savages”, Benjamin Franklin explains the definition of savage to call into question the “savagery” of American Indians through the appeals of ethos, juxtaposition, and satire. Franklin juxtaposes the culture between colonists and Indians to highlight the differences. These differences showcased how each group has a different perspective on the perfection of civility. One of these differences are their opinions on the learning basis, “the learning, on which we value ourselves, they regard as frivolous and useless.” For instance, the indigenous people did not appreciate how their youths that came from colleges were “bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods,...were therefore neither fit for hunters,

For instance, an Indian, Conrad Weiser, has experienced one of these unjustified treatments as he traveled as an interpreter. According the Conrad Weiser’s perspective, the meetings “to hear and learn good things” was, in reality, established “only to contrive the cheating of Indians in the price of beaver’”. Additionally, the satire highlighted towards the colonists developed irony because the colonists are criticizing the “savages” when their disrespectful attitude towards them seem to be more uncivilized. An example is how the Indians believed the ministers’ stories, even though they did not learn it from their mothers. On the other hand, the Swedish minister refused to believe what the Indian orator shared and said it was “false, fiction and falsehood.” As a result, the minister was told that “they have not well instructed you in the rules of common civility.” This example tackles the colonist’s perfection of civility because of their inability to accept new concepts, they claim that everything that is not part of their religion or culture is false. By describing this example, Franklin also satirizes colonist’s ignorance because “who are wise, must know that different nations have different conceptions of things.” Therefore, Franklin satirizes the colonist’s hypocrisy to counterclaim the “savagery” of American