A response to Christopher Columbus 1451-1506

Christopher Columbus
1451-1506

This story of Christopher Columbus starts off with a brief description of Columbus’s life and voyages. This description is short, sweet, and to the point, starting off with Columbus being born in 1451, into a wool worker family. The description progresses into him “turning to the sea as a young man.” In his quest to find an Atlantic route to Asia, Columbus embarked on four voyages, each with their adventurous tales. His last voyage was somewhat of a struggle for him to regain his reputation. It seems that Columbus had a mental breakdown on his final voyage, because of which he was returned to Europe, where he later died. Several documents from the hands of Columbus himself still exist. These include the supposed journal of his voyages, and the letters that recapture the tales of each of his voyages.
In Columbus’s letters, he uses a nice amount of diction, using words such as “disenchantments,” and “memorandum,” meaning to free from illusion or false belief, and memorandum meaning a written record or communication. His choice of words and how to order what he is saying makes his message more sophisticated rather than straight forward. An example of this would be in his letter on his first voyage, where he talks about how he sent two men inland on the island of Juana to search for any great cities. His choice of words: “they traveled three days’ journey and found an infinity of small hamlets and people without number” paints a picture for the imagination. It provides that sophistication, rather than the dullness that would occur if he only used words such as a lot, and many.
Columbus also used a fair amount of imagery when it comes to some of the phrases depicted in his letters. Within the letter of his first voyage he describes the trees on the island of Tenerife as being so tall they touch the sky. This use of imagery most likely allows his audience, Luis de Santangle, to paint this picture in his head, as if he were there standing right next to Columbus when his eyes first gazed upon the trees of the island. He accomplishes this same feat with other similar phrases such as: “the lushness of nature,” and how he “never thinks without weeping.” If it were not for this use of imagery, Columbus’s letters would have reached his audience as dull and boring, but he makes it fun and imaginative for his readers.
One would most likely believe that Columbus did not add all these uses of diction and imagery into his letters for no apparent reason. In using these things he creates pathos. He establishes that emotional connection with his audience, but not just in the ways discussed above. The way he speaks of Espanola, Paria, and the other various places that he visited in the beginning of his letter on his fourth voyage, stirs up a feeling of compassion for his readers. He talks about the people’s exhausted state, and their incurable infirmities, which establishes that emotional connection to his readers. His audience no doubt felt for him later in this letter, where he speaks on how after all his years of service, his body has begun to deteriorate, he has grown old, and he believes that he is very near death. Sadly this letter was written in 1503, and as we know, Columbus died in 1506, but his message was undoubtedly received in a clearly powerful way.