Robert E. Lee - Letter to his Family

I read Letter to His Son by Robert E. Lee in our American Literature Textbook. I thought it was kind of hard to follow along at first, because old things like that I do not follow with very well. I think that it was kind of confusing, but then I started to get it. I also thought just by reading the title at first that it was kind of cool that he was sharing things that were really important with his son. I would hope to think that his son would appreciate what he had to say, and hopefully his dad had a great affect in his life.

"I will not, however, permit myself to believe, until all ground of hope is gone, that the fruit of his noble deeds will be destroyed, and that his precious advice and virtuous example will so soon be forgotten by his countrymen. As far as I can judge by the papers, we are between a state of anarchy and civil war. May God avert both of these evils from us! I fear that mankind will not for years be sufficiently Christianized to bear the absence of restraint and force. I see that four states have declared themselves out of the Union; four more will apparently follow their example. Then, if the border states are brought into the gulf of revolution, one half of the country will be arrayed against the other. I must try and be patient and await the end, for I can do nothing to hasten or retard it" (Lee).

In this passage in our American Literature Textbooks, you can tell that Lee was writing this letter to his son during the civil war. Lee wrote this to his son after his son had sent him a book called Life of Washington in the mail (Lee). Robert E. Lee was going through a hard, rough time in his life right then when they were writing back and forth. I could tell when reading this that Lee's son probably sent this book to him, because I think the book related to Robert E. Lee a lot at that point in his life. The big issue that Lee was sharing with to his son, and everyone else for that matter, was about the North and the South in America at that time during the Civil War. I think that Robert E. Lee not only shares with us realism in this letter to his son, but also regionalism. "Then, if the border states are brought into the gulf of revolution, one half of the country will be arrayed against the other" (Lee). I think this line in the letter to Robert's son was a great example of regionalism, because regionalism deals with certain regions and things that go in those places. The regions in this circumstance was the north and the south. That was a big issue that was affecting Robert E. Lee in his life. I think that it also shares realism with us too. "I will not, however, permit myself to believe, until all ground of hope is gone, that the fruit of his noble deeds will be destroyed, and that his precious advice and virtuous example will so soon be forgotten by his countrymen" (Lee). This line is realism, because Lee was sharing with us the feelings that he had towards this book. He was not going to let anyone change his mind, and he has his own views and he was okay with that.

Lee, Robert E. "Letter to His Son." American Literature Textbook. Columbus: McGraw-Hill, 2009. 384-385. Print.