James Fenimore Cooper was born on September 15,
1789 in Burlington, New Jersey. He was
the son of William and Elizabeth (Fenimore) Cooper, the twelfth of thirteen
children (Long, p. 9). Cooper is known as one of the first great
American novelists, in many ways because he was the first American writer to
gain international followers of his writing.
In addition, he was perhaps the first novelist to
"demonstrate...that native materials could inspire significant imaginative
writing" (p. 13). In addition his writing, specifically The
Deerslayer, present a unique view of the Native American's experiences and
situation. Many critics, for example,
argue that The Deerslayer presents a moral opinion about what occurred in the
lives of the American Indians.
Marius Bewley
has said that the book shows moral values throughout the context of
it. He says that from the very
beginning, this is symbolically made clear.
The plot is a platform for the development of moral themes. The first contact the reader has with people
in the book is in the passage in which the two hunters find each other. "The calls were in different tones,
evidently proceeding from two men who had lost their way, and were searching in
different directions for their path"
(Cooper, p. 5). Bewley states
that this meeting is symbolic of losing one's way morally, and then attempting
to find it again through different paths.
Says Bewley, "when the two men emerge from the forest into the
little clearing we are face to face with... two opposing moral visions of life
which are embodied in these two woodsmen"
(cited in Long, p. 121).
Critic Donald Davie, however, disagrees. His contention is that the plot is poorly
developed. "It does not hang
together; has no internal logic; one incident does not rise out of
another" (cited in Long, p.
121). But according to Robert Long,
Bewley has a better grasp of the meaning and presentation of ideas throughout
the book. According to Long, although
the plot development may not be "strictly linear," it is still
certainly coherent and makes sense. In
addition, Long feels that, as Bewley states, the novel is a way in and through
which Cooper presents moral ideas about the plight of the Native Americans (p. 121).
The story of The Deerslayer is simple. It is novel which tells the events which
occur in the travels of a frontiersman.
His name is Natty, and he is a young man at only twenty years old. Coming from New York of the eighteenth
century, he is unprepared in many ways for what he encounters in the
frontier. But he survives, escapes, and
learns many things over the course of his adventures.
The two characters of Natty and Hurry are
contrasted in such as way that Cooper presents his view of the Native Americans
through them. As earlier indicated, they
symbolize two men with differing moral aptitudes. Throughout the novel, the differences between
the two show Cooper's feelings about morality as it relates to the American
Indians. As Long states, "The
voices of the two men calling to one another at the beginning introduces the
idea of a world that has lost its coherence, is already reduced to disjunction
and fragmentation. Natty and Hurry
search for a point of contact yet move in different directions" (p. 122).
Cooper's descriptions of Natty and Hurry early
in the novel make it obvious that they stand for opposite moral values. Hurry, for example, is described by Cooper as
having "a dashing, reckless, off-hand manner, and physical restlessness" (Cooper, p. 6). In fact, it is these characteristics of him
that gave him his nickname by which he is called - Hurry Scurry, although his
real name is Henry March. He is
described as tall and muscular, the "grandeur that pervaded such a noble
physique" being the only thing that kept him from looking "altogether
vulgar" (p. 6). The Deerslayer's appearance, on the other
hand, contrasts with Hurry's significantly.
Cooper indicates that not only were the two men different in appearance,
but also "in character" (p.
6). A little shorter than Hurry, he was
also leaner. In addition, he was not
handsome like Hurry and, says Cooper, he would not have anything exceptional
about his looks had it not been for "an expression that seldom failed to
win upon those who had leisure to examine it, and to yield to the feelings of
confidence it created. This expression
was simply that of guileless truth, sustained by an earnestness of purpose, and
a sincerity of feeling" (p. 6).
Cooper contrasts these two characters early in
the story so that it is evident that they will provide examples of contrasting
behavior as well. It is made clear early
on that the later actions of both Hurry and the Deerslayer will contrast in
such a way that the moral issues with which Cooper was concerned would come to
light.
Glimmerglass as the setting of the novel allows
the contrast between the two men to be seen even more strongly. As William P. Kelly (1983) states, the
setting created by Cooper allows the story to have a certain myth-like quality,
a quality which makes the teaching of a lesson by Cooper all that much more acceptable. "Cooper does not locate his narrative
within the flux of history, but evokes a sense of timelessness consistent with
the world of myth. For example, the
setting is of "the earliest days of colonial history," a "remote
and obscure" period, lost in the "mists of time." In setting the backdrop of the story in this
way, the events become less important in regards to historical value and
accuracy - their importance is derived from their ability to teach one lessons
about morality.
Within this
setting, then, the contrasts between Natty and Hurry are brought across even
clearer. But it is another character,
Tom Hutter, who also plays an important role in Cooper's presentation of the
Indians. Hutter's significance first
involves where he lives. His house is
located directly in the center of Glimmerglass.
This suggests, symbolically at least, that he is involved in the center
of activities, whether moral or immoral, within Glimmerglass. In addition, more than living in the center
of the land, Hutter has also laid claim, however unofficial, to the land. Early on in the novel the reader learns that
this is the case. Shortly after Natty
and Hurry meet up, they are canoeing down the water. Natty comments that the land is so beautiful,
and asks Hurry, "Do you say, Hurry, that there is no man who calls himself
lawful owner of all these glories?' (p.
22). To this Hurry responds, "None
but the King....but he has gone so far away that his claim will never trouble
old Tom Hutter, who has got possession, and is like to keep it as long as his
life lasts" (p. 22).
In having the
characters of Natty and Hurry speak of Hutter like this, referring to him in an
almost mythological sense as though he is a legend, Cooper is setting the stage
for the development of Hutter's character, also in contrast to Natty's. It is in Tom Hutter's home, when Natty and
Hurry first arrive in the beginning of the book, that they begin to talk about
hunting and the killing of both animals and men. Natty comments that he has the reputation as
being the only man "who had shed so much blood of animals that had not
shed the blood of man" (p. 28). He
says this with pride, obviously not looking with high regard upon the savage
slaughter of other men. But Hurry's
response shows that he looks at this in a totally different perspective. He says that he is afraid that people will
think that Natty is "chicken-hearted." Then he goes on to comment that "For my
part I account game, a redskin, and a Frenchman as pretty much the same
thing...one has no need to be over-scrupulous when it's the right time to show
the flint" (p. 28).
Cooper presents
this dialogue between Natty and Hurry in order to obviously contrast their
moral characters. First, he has Natty
speak, with apparent pride, about the fact that in all the land, he has the
reputation for killing more deer than anyone else, while never having taken one
single human life. But Hurry's response
to this is that Natty is a "chicken-hearted" individual. In Natty's point of view, animals, Indians,
and Frenchman are all the same, and killing one is the same as killing another.
In this, Cooper
is clearly presenting a view about the worth of Indians within the society of
this time. Natty's view that killing
other men should be avoided is the correct and "right" view. He sets Natty up as a moral character,
specifically in comparison to Hurry to which he compares Natty often. Hurry, then, blatantly states that he thinks
that there is nothing which separates the killing of a deer from the killing of
a man. Cooper presents this view in
order to show what he feels is the correct way.
It is obvious that Cooper wants Natty to present Cooper's view of the
Native Americans. Natty's inability to
look at them as mere animals shows that he believes that they are good people,
just the same as anyone else. In fact,
Hurry is depicted more as the villain, while Natty is presented as the hero.
As their
conversation continues, Natty asks Hurry if the lake has a name. When Hurry tells him that it, in fact, does
not, Natty thinks of this as positive.
"I'm glad it has no name, or, at least, no paleface name; for their christenings always foretell waste
and destruction" (p. 30). Here, we can see Natty's thoughts on the
significance of whether an Indian or a white man has named the water. He comments that he would mind if a white man
had named it. He believes that white men
traditionally bring with them environmental damage - they would have ruined the
natural beauty of it. The Indians, on
the other hand, treated land with much
more respect. Cooper makes it
apparent that this is the way he feels in having Natty comment on the land as
such.
Hurry, however,
responds in a different way. He tells Natty
that the Indian name for it is "Glimmerglass." Then he goes on to state that the white men
decided to keep this name, at least unofficially. "I am glad they've been compelled to
keep the redmen's name, for it would be too hard to rob them of both land and
name!" (p. 30).
In other words,
Hurry is stating the obvious fact that everything will eventually be taken away
from the Native Americans. Any land that
they might value and care for today will be confiscated and fought for by the white
men tomorrow. But the exclamation point
at the end of the sentence suggests that, rather than a sad comment accepting
the inevitable, Hurry says this with glee and excitement. To him it is like a joke, that the Indians
will be allowed to keep the name for the land but lose the land itself.
Cooper, in the
above dialogue between Natty and Hurry, is presenting a view of the immorality
involved in the interactions between the Native Americans and the white
men. In Cooper's mind, the Native
Americans respected and cared for the land much more than the white men
did. This is apparent in his quote from
Hurry, that white men always brought "waste and destruction" to
land. Secondly, Cooper also thought that
the constant fighting, oppression, and killing of the American Indians was
wrong. To Cooper, Natty represented the
good and moral point of view on this issue, while Hurry represented the immoral
and cruel side, laughing about the horrible truths of the land.
All throughout
the book The Deerslayer, Cooper contrasts the characters of Hurry and Natty in
order to present his views of Native Americans.
With Hurry as the one who has a racist attitude, believing that the
deaths of Indians are deaths which do not matter, Natty is the moral one. The contrast between these two characters
allows Cooper to show the contrast between morality and immorality. Hurry goes around killing Indians, believing
that their deaths are insignificant.
Natty, killing his first Indian in a matter of self-defense, holds the
man in his arms as he dies feeling a sense of bonding and brotherhood with the
dying Indian. Throughout the book, Natty
is shown learning many different things, such as woodcraft, and increasing in
moral stature. Hurry, on the other hand,
is presented as becoming more and more selfish, until his comments by
themselves reveal his ignorance and he loses credibility as a character.
The book The
Deerslayer is a story in which James Fenimore Cooper presents a view of the
Native Americans. His idea is that they
were natural owners to the land, being there first. In addition, they loved, valued and respected
the land in a way that was not common to most white men. Finally, he believed that they were human
beings, entitled to live their lives freely just as anyone else. In showing the two sides of opinion on this
issue - Hurry and Natty - Cooper sets the book up as a story of good and evil,
right and wrong. His ideas, through the
thoughts and actions of Hurry and Natty, are clearly presented.
Works Cited
Cooper, James
Fenimore. The Deerslayer. New York:
The Heritage Press, 1961.
Kelly, William
P. Plotting America's Past.
Illinois: Southern Illinois University
Press,
1983.
Long, Robert
Emmet. James Fenimore Cooper. New York:
Continuum Publishing
Company, 1990.
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