Letter to Robert E. Lee's Family

In "Letter to His Family", Robert E. Lee, shows himself to be a very intelligent man. He can see that the nation is falling apart and is mourning the loss by writing to his son. His version of the American Dream is to have America be whole once again. This letter was written before the Civil War. Not all of the states had seceded yet, but they were getting that way. Lee could see that it was inevitable that something would happen, which is a characteristic of Naturalism.

There are also several characteristics of Realism in this letter. The most obvious being that Robert E. Lee was an actual person, thus the events that he spoke of in his letter actually happened. He is an important historical figure who is writing about things that could and did actually happen in real life. Naturally Robert E. Lee could not have known for sure that a Civil War would break out, but it was still a possibility in his time. He was also an ordinary man. The ordinary, everyday man was a prominent fixture in Realism. Again, Robert E. Lee could not have known at the time that he wrote this letter that he would become an important man in America's history. Those of us in today's time have the benefit of history and retrospect and know that he was eventually very important. He was not at the time he wrote this, so he can still be considered a Realism hero. Another characteristic of Realism that is easy to see is that this letter is written in the vernacular. Lee was writing this letter to his son, so he had no need for fancy words. He would obviously be relaxed when dealing with his family, so his word choice makes sense.

Regionalism is also apparent. Lee says that if the Union is dissolved, he will "return to my native state and share the miseries of my people." (Lee 385). This closeness to his native area is indicative of Regionalism.

Nature and psychology are not components of this letter. Government is mentioned in practically the whole thing because Lee spends the majority of this letter mourning the loss of the great nation of Washington's time. "How his spirit would be grieved could he see the wreck of his mighty labors!" (Lee 385). Religion is also included, but is not the main focus. In these lines, "...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," (Lee 385) Lee is asking for God to help them during this time. Lee's American Dream is just to keep America together. he does not want the country to break up and fight against each other. He just wants to keep living his life according to The American Dream. His views reflect the feelings of many Americans at that time. Only small groups actually wanted to go to war, but many saw it as inevitable.

Lee, Robert E. "Letter to his Son." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 385. Print.