Letter to his Son

Robert E. Lee General of all Confederate forces in the Civil War was not a bad man as most people presume. He was a man tormented with peoples that most people faced and he had a family that he loved and cared deeply for. This letter was written as the southern states were beginning their secession of the union. Lee shows great despair and dismay over the breaking up of the Union and expresses his distaste for the future conflict he sees brewing. He expresses his contempt for the actions of the south but states that if the conflict should come to war that he would side with his native state and support them in their endeavors if nothing else than out of loyalty. His fierce loyalty and language used throughout the letter he writes to his son classify this work as a regionalistic piece.

As Werlock writes Regionalism is, "A literary subgenre that emphasizes the setting, history, speech, dialect, and customs of a particular geographical locale or area, not only for local color, but also for development of universal themes through the use of the local and particular." With line from Lee's letter such as, "...I shall return to my native state and share in the miseries of my people, save in defense, will draw my sword on none." demonstrates his fierce loyalty to his state and his hometown versus his loyalty to his nation. This expresses without doubt the notion that Lee more identified himself as a son of Virginia as opposed to an American whose duty is was to uphold the sanctity of the Union. Lee was a patriotic man and believed in everything that the Union stood for but he knew that he could do nothing to prevent is dissolution at the hands of succession.

His language throughout the letter is prim and proper with very little, if any at all southern dialect bleeding through to his writing. Although he did not use the same type of speech as his fellow southerners Lee expressed his fierce loyalty to the state despite his reservations towards helping the Union and expresses his clear desire to stay loyal to his state, which was a common theme and characteristic in southerner's attitude in the period. With the line "As an American citizen, I take great pride in my country, her prosperity, and institutions, and would defend any state if her rights were invaded (Lee.)" Lee demonstrates his fierce support of states' rights and his loyalty to the United States as a whole. His loyalty is the characteristic that ties in his writing to the regionalism style, because at the time loyalty to one's state over their loyalty to the federal government was a classic trait among southerners.

Although Lee did not use too much dialect of Virginians in his letter to his son he displays common characteristics of people in the state by displaying his fierce loyalty and believe in states's rights and independence. With these characteristics and themes at his side the work is categorized as a regionalistic piece.

Lee, Robert E. "Letter to His Son." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 385. Print.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "regionalism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0581&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 14, 2011).