In 1847 Eliza Stacey, a frontier farmer’s wife, writes a letter to her father-in-law Edward Stacey for financial aid after her husband George had been arrested and taken to jail. Her family was deep into debt and needed help. As she was nearing the end of her pregnancy, she was swamped with stress and work. This letter attempts to persuade her father-in-law to help her family once more by stressing the time and urgency of the situation, establishing how he is the only who can help them, and taking off blame from themselves.
Stacey tries to procure her father-in-law’s sympathy for her dire situation by stressing the time and urgency of it. Stacey writes in a dramatic tone to emphasize the stress in the situation. She tells him that George had left her at the worst time possible and “suddenly with everything to do” as their “baby [is] due in about two weeks’ time.” She is pregnant and shouldn’t be burdened with the extensive amount of stress because it is unhealthy for her and her baby. Stacey is working overtime to make up for the absence of her husband which is draining all her energy.
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It is repeated throughout the letter that Stacey does not feel she should feel bad for the situation by saying its not their fault. She claims she is a victim of the unjust world. She says she “had not felt guilty of this debt” (14) nor felt “responsible for this debt” (90). Those who attribute their success or failure to outside influences have an external locus of control. Stacey claims the world is not working in her favor. She takes the blame off of herself to get her father to pity and sympathize for her. Stacey uses rhetorical questions to influence Edward’s decision to help her. She states,“I am afraid to dismiss the hired man, for how can I manage?”(41-42). She presents this rhetorical question to hint that she is in a vulnerable state and is