General Robert E. Lee

General Robert E. Lee

What is freedom? One could say it is the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint. In the book The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, General Lee is in search of freedom. General Lee fights for freedom, has great influence on his men, and a sense of pride. First Lee demonstrates his character by fighting for freedom.

To people, freedom could have a lot of different meanings. To General Robert E. Lee, freedom means just being able to fight. Throughout the book the author implies that Lee has a heart problem and some days its fine, while others it bothers him tremendously. “Not much pain this morning. Praise God…The thing about the heart was that you could not coax it or force it, as you could any other disease” (72). With Lee just being able to be out on the battle field or even with his troops is his freedom. He knows he doesn’t have much time left to be able to continue in the army but he will serve as long as he can. This freedom to General Lee surpasses anything he could ever want because of his passion for what he does. Along with his freedom to fight, his influence on his troops joins his traits.

Influencing people can go a long way. It can make people do wonders and turn them into glorious people. General Lee had this effect on his troops; fore he was a well respected man. “I once swore to defend this ground. No matter. No matter. Napoleon once said, The logical end to defensive warfare is surrender. You might tell him that” (77). Telling his lower ranking commanders that’s he will always defend the south he influences them as well. Next Lee takes pride from where he is from.

Pride is defined as a high opinion of one’s own dignity. General Lee is proud to be a part of the South. “He noticed at last a struggling band: “Bonny Blue Flag”. A brave but tinny sound. He bowed in that direction, raised his coffee cup