Hey guys, this is one of my first attempts for the year at LA so sorry if its not the best. Hope its not too late, and any feedback would be appreciated!!
Beginning his letter by appealing to the patriotism of the reader, Davies attempts to establish the Australian cultural norm as “working together as mates”, and calls upon past examples of selflessness, mentioning “the ANZAC spirit”. In doing so, Davies creates an ideal example of Australian behaviour, of which the reader is proud to share in. However, he then juxtaposes the normal virtuous behaviour of those in Australian society with the recent spike in panic-buying, arguing that “something selfish” has “crept” into the Australian way of life. In doing so, Davies utilises the negative connotations of the word ‘crept’ to imply that those who are hoarding food are less-than-reputable members of society, and thus the reader, who wants to uphold the aforementioned ideal, does not wish to associate with the hoarders. Furthermore, Davies uses humour, asserting that “diarrhoea has not been included as a symptom of COVID-19 virus” to highlight the irrationality of the hoarders, presenting no logical reason as to there would be “not a single roll of toilet paper”. Davies, therefore, argues that hoarding had no real purpose or reason, but is simply a product of panic-induced selfishness, causing the reader to appreciate the logic in Davies argument and thus side with him. Moreover, describing the shelves as being stripped by “a swarm of locusts”, Davies insinuates that panic-buyers are acting like mindless insects, who are simply following the crowd. Indeed, by likening such people to locusts, Davies implies that they are in their own way a plague, stressing the severity of the issue to the reader, urging them to not partake in such selfish and destructive behaviour. Additionally, Davies attempts to evoke feelings of sympathy in the reader, posing the scenario of a “sick” family “desperately” needing toilet paper, using the connotations to further create pity in the reader, by portraying the family as helpless and in dire need of assistance. As such, the reader wishes to help the family, and sides with Davies on the issue of hoarding. It is in this way that Davies also makes the issue personal, as the reader themselves question what they would do in such a situation, cementing their opinion against hoarding. Finally, Davies contrasts traditional Australian culture with the current rash of hoarding, arguing that Australia is now a country of “look after yourself and bugger the other bloke”, positioning the reader to want to return to past times and uphold conventional Australian values. Moreover, by using colloquial language again, in the words “bugger” and “bloke” Davies again emphasises the fact that hoarding is a nationwide issue that is affecting the Australian way of life, causing the reader to rally behind him in defence of the country.