General Lee’s Warning
General, Robert E. Lee in his letter testifies about his fervent hope that a civil war can be avoided. Lee’s purpose is to convey the idea that a civil war will result in nihilism and should be avoided at all cost. He utilizes dramatic diction, pathos, and allusion in order to discourage the recipient of the letter from taking up arms against the union.
Lee begins his letter by adopting dramatic diction to agree that the North has been aggressive and factious however he whole heatedly believes that secession would be an ignoble tragedy. Lee pinpoints how there would be “no greater calamity for the country than dissolution of the union.” He is also “willing to sacrifice” to keep it together at whatever cost. Lee vehemently
