Samuel Johnson Response To Hope

A wounded heart encapsulated by the utmost hope exudes the very blood which symbolizes failure, only to be mended by the ease into rejection. It is with this mentality that Samuel Johnson writes his response to an eager mother; rejecting her proposal for his pristine validation aiding her son’s deemed qualities. Johnson wishes to only relay a warmthful touch from that of a cold heart. This cold heart being that he will infact not bear the duty proposed to him. It is with a validating shift in tone, carrassring diction, and mindful organization that Johnson comforts the women whilst defending his own reasoning almost altering the denoted dimension of why the women asked Johnson to begin with.
Strategically, Johnson destroys societal perceptions

“Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: but, like all other pleasures immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain; and expectations improperly indulged, must end in disappointment.” The tone of this sentence follows that of the whole introduction of the letter, Johnson anticipates the sadness of the mother upon opening and thus juxtaposes this emotion with a sense of stern happiness. For one cannot desire the unattainable, this is considered an “improper indulgence” that will end in dissatisfaction. Instead, Johnson proposes that hope should be used wisely, and not fueled by what is wanted but fueled by what makes sense. Thus this leads into the second phase of tone. “When you made your request to me, you should have considered, Madman, what you were asking.” This colloquial language now shifts the author's tone, so that Johnson doesn't discredit her son he instead almost discredits himself and discredits the mother’s “overindulgence.” The question, Johnson finds actually quite vacuous asking for reference when he “never spoke to [him].” Now, the author has removed the hasteness that accompanies denials and has replaced it with not only a new outlook on life, but a strengthening rejection. For it is with rejection that new life stems from the critique so that now achievement can be placed on the sole