Friday, July 6, 2007

Summary and Response to “Letter to President Pierce”

The article “Letter to President Pierce” by Chief Seattle shows all the damage “white-man” has done to nature and how red man does not understand why. Seattle starts off by showing that white man take advantage of the land that they have taken over and when they are done with it, they just leave it like it is nothing of value. He states that the only reason white man doesn’t think that they understand him is because Seattle and all red-man are “Savage.” Seattle states that white man should in touch with nature but “is too numb to stench” meaning white man are too blind to see the affect they have on nature. Seattle writes that whites are causing their own demise by killing beasts and taking over everything and soon their will be nothing left for whites to have because they discard everything the obtain. He concludes the article by saying that he might be able to understand why the white man does this to nature if he knew what burns in white man’s mind.
I really liked this article because Seattle gets mad at white man for doing what they believe is right even though it is not. I like how he uses the white-man’s words against him by calling himself a savage so he can share his emotions and hardships with the reader. I also like the way that he makes the white-man look selfish by wasting land and killing animals recklessly and not recognizing the consequences. He also made the red man look innocent and peaceful by showing that they are in touch with nature because they would rather listen to a gentle wind blowing than a bunch of noise coming from a crowded city. This article really lets me see what the Indians see of white man and gives me a different opinion about them.

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