A colonial father’s fairy-tale letters to his daughter dissolved with illness.

Evidence

In the first year, he appeals to what he hopes will interest a small girl, describes his house, his menagerie of chickens and rabbits, and his dear dog, Marie. He tells her to let grandma know that he is in superb health. Six months later, his fairy tale format fades with his long illness and his outlook worn and worse: To have the wings of a bird so I could escape my kingdom and come to embrace you just for a moment and to see all the family. Perhaps you wouldn’t recognize me, since my illness I have become completely bald. — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1447

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

Broader Connections

• Family letters reveal colonial dispositions without clarifying inner feeling #exemplifies (0.75)