What Are The Literary Devices Used In Chief Seattle's Speech

The speech Chief Seattle gave October 29, 1889 was in response to Isaac Stevens, the Washington state governor, who was ordered to not only purchase Indian lands, but move the Indians to reservations. When the Chief gave his speech, he used similes, ethical appeal, and emotional appeal to achieve his purpose. The Chief’s purpose in responding was to convince the governor to let the Indians keep their land. The literary devices he used helped to get his point across and assist him in achieving his purpose. Similes were used by Chief Seattle to achieve goal of keeping the land of his people for them and only them. In this quote, Chief compares his people to a receding tide, “Our people are ebbing away like a rapidly receding tide that will never return.” By implying his people will never return, Chief Seattle evokes pity within the reader but also hints to the fact that the tide (which is his his people) was once high, or that they were large in numbers. Chief Seattle also uses “Even the rocks, which seem to be dumb and dead as the swelter in the sun along the silent shore, thrill with memories of stirring events connected with the lives of my people,” to show that every bit of land that the Indians live on matters to them, and they have strong ties to even the most miniscule things within the place they call their home. The simile shows how much the land truly belongs to Chief Seattle and his people. In the next quote, the Chief uses another simile to tell how the white man has done nothing but wrong the Indians. “The Red Man has ever fled the approach of the White Man, as …show more content…
He uses many literary devices to try to achieve this very challenging goal. By utilizing similes, emotional appeal, and ethical appeal, Chief Seattle created a moving and haunting argument as to why they deserve to keep their homes rather than be torn from them and have their sacred lands