The Killer Angels Society and Class Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

He was continually amazed at the combination of raw earth and rough people, white columned and traces of English manner. He had not gotten used to the crude habit of shaking hands which was common among these people, but he forced himself. (2.5.11)

Arthur Fremantle sees shaking hands as "crude" likely because it violates older English ideas of nobility and propriety. It's a sign that this American civilization generally tends to view people as being on an equal footing with another, as long as they're not slaves. Even though the South is trying to preserve aristocracy, it's not immune to American habits that imply equality, like shaking hands.

Quote #5

"But your General Lee is an English general, sir. Strordnry. He has gained some reputation, sir, as of course you know, but there is a tendency in Europe to, ah, think of Americans as, ah, somewhat behind the times, sometimes what, ah, how do I say this? One is on tricky ground here, but, sir, of course you understand, there are these cultural differences, a new land and all that. Yet, what I mean to say is, one did not expect General Lee." (2.5.27)

Although Fremantle is English, he romanticizes Lee—just as many Southerners would do for generations afterwards. Lee is the classic Southern gentleman: he symbolizes the aristocratic order that would fall after 1865.

Quote #6

They called themselves Americans. But they were transplanted Englishmen. Look at the names: Lee, Hill, Longstreet, Jackson, Stuart. And Lee was Church of England. Most of them were. All gentlemen. No finer gentlemen in England than Lee. Well, of course, here and there, possibly one exception. Or two. (3.1.28)

Fremantle sees the South as being basically English and Protestant, while he sees the North as a crazy melting pot of different ethnicities and religions. He's unable to see that this is where the winning cause lies.