"Letters to his Family" by Robert E. Lee is a letter to his son, in which he gives him advice for the future. He mainly states be true to yourself and be true to others (Lee, Robert). He says that you should never do somebody else wrong and to always be honest and frank. If you have the opportunity to help someone, do it, but if you can't than simply tell them why you can't (Lee, Robert). I think that the views of Thoreau and Robert Lee are similar and different. I like the words of Robert E. Lee almost better than Thoreau because he gives actually advice and help whereas Thoreau just explains what is wrong and his opinions on what are right and how they should be solved. I think that they are similar though because they are both trying to make the world better somehow. Thoreau fought for equality and Lee fought to make the people better themselves.Emerson and Thoreau believed in self-reliance and individuality. In this letter to his son, he explains why it is important to be yourself and to do things for others, which overall helps yourself (Lee, Robert). The advice given is all about helping his son and giving him the tools he needs to survive in the world. Basically, everyone has certain duties in this world and we should do those and be completely satisfied. I think that is like Emerson and Thoreau too because they believed that everything had a purpose, even if they did not agree with it, things happened for a reason. Emerson and Thoreau were more about self-reliance and in this story I noticed there were views for God that kind of helped determine everything, so overall it just had a little more religious aspect when compared to Emerson and Thoreau's stories and philosophies. Overall the letter is very powerful because it gives all advice that is needed for the changing future based on what was happening at the time.
Lee, Robert E. "A Letter to His Son." Sonofthesouth.net. Son of the South. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/to%20his%20son.htm.
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