John Downe's Letter To His Wife Thesis

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During the 1830s there was evident poverty throughout the common people in England so many people decided to immigrate to the United States. John Downe writes a loving and convincing letter to his wife in order to get her to travel to the united states so he can reunite with his family. Downe emphasizes the abundance of food in order to convince Sukey, his wife, that in the United States their children will not starve. In the United States a farmer invited him over to dinner in which he had “pudding , pyes...and everything that a person could wish”. Downe depicts the plethora of food that is available in America. Downe’s description emphasizes not only the vast amount of food available but also the variety. He implies that in England, …show more content…

As Downe eats dinner with the farmer who invited him over, he realizes “the servants sat down at the same table with their masters”. Equality is evident as the servants and the master sit down at the same table. Downe appeals to Sukey’s economic and social condition as he reassures her there are people who disregard social status and would treat her as an equal. Downe confirms the idea of equality when he states “For here no man thinks himself your superior”. He acknowledges that in England, there are people of power who think of themselves as superior to others. In contrast, people in America tend to treat each other as equals. Not only that but “the man which is really your superior does not plume himself on being so”. Since America has a free enterprise system, some people are economically better than others. Even when some people are ones superiors economically, they still treat all the others equally and do not discriminate. Downe recognizes that the people in England who are economically superior boost their status whenever they can; So he goes out of his way to state that the way of life is different in America for the common person because he knows it would be appealing for

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