Abraham Lincoln Character Analysis

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) was the 16th president of the United States. He is simultaneously the writer, speaker, and protagonist of the Farewell Address. The speech provides direct insight into his inner thoughts and his style of speaking. While he may not go through any major character development over the course of the short speech, it does capture his mindset as he moves into a period of immense change in the lives of himself, his family members, and the American people. Lincoln gave his Farewell Address in February 1861, just before leaving his home in Springfield, Illinois for Washington, D.C. to take office as president. Two months later, in April 1861, mounting political and social tension in the United States would culminate in the American Civil War, which defined Lincoln’s presidency and ultimately reshaped the nation. Due to the speech’s brevity, Lincoln doesn’t reference anyone besides former president George Washington, who is long dead. The lack of real characters reflects the individual, and by extension isolating, nature of the task before the president-elect. In the role, he will have a vice president and a staff of people to assist him, but it is by nature a solo job because only one person can be president at any given time. Lincoln’s audience, the people of Springfield, are present as addressees, but the speech is not about them on an individual level, and he therefore does not address anyone directly. Thus, the speech’s lack of names and characters points on the one hand to the solitary nature of Lincoln’s forthcoming life but on the other hand shows his inclusive spirit: for fear of leaving people out, he does not highlight anyone in particular. This ensures that anyone listening feels that he is speaking directly to them.