Lecture 8 – Literature 1

Question 1

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —Basics

Answer 1

– from the beginnings of white settlement in the North American continent, the West was perceived as an otherworld that was populated by savages who threatened the emerging commonwealth
– one of the culturally most productive of the literary tropes to develop from this perception was the captivity narrative which reflected on the interface between the two worlds and, more specifically, the breach of the ever expanding frontier

Question 2

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —precursors

Answer 2

–antecedent of the captivity narrative is the rape, or abduction, of Persephone by Hades in ancient Greek mythology
–another, also mythologized, early example is the rape, or abduction, of the Sabine women by the Romans as recounted in Roman historiography
–both ancient antecedents were frequent subjects for artistic representations

Question 3

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —Origins

Answer 3

– the origin of modern captivity narratives lies in the 15th century and they occur in different historical and geographical contexts
– they are stories of (usually) individuals captured by enemies who are considered to be uncivilized and among whom they are forced to live
– in the North American context, captivity narratives emerged in particular from the violent interaction with Native Americans
–they frequently culminate in the liberation of the captive and their return to their own people and to civilization
– captivity narratives have been said to “constitute the first coherent myth-literature developed in America for American audiences.” (Slotkin 1973)

Question 4

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —Descriptions

Answer 4

– the captivity narrative has, moreover, been described as “the perfect scripture for a civilization’s sense of its encounter with the wilderness, for in the redemption that rounded it out there was victory.” (Turner 1994)
– at the same time, it has been observed that “[w]hat really is being dramatized in this tradition is the historic Christian fear of becoming possessed, possessed by the wild peoples,” but also, “more profoundly, by the wilderness and its spirits. We might say that it is the fear of going native.” (Turner 1994)
– captivity narratives were particularly popular in America and in Europe from the seventeenth to the late nineteenth centuries

Question 5

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —Example

Answer 5

“A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” (1682) is a prominent example of the genre

Question 6

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” (1682)

Answer 6

– the full original title of Mary Rowlandson’s captivity narrative indicates its deeply religious dimension: The Soveraignty & Goodness of God, Together with the Faithfulness of His Promises Displayed, Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson
– the author’s captivity among Native Americans is represented by her as a temptation that must be resisted and as a trial that must be endured up to the deliverance of the sinner/victim by the grace of God
– the captive’s experience thus served as an allegorized example of moral fortitude to the Puritan community

Question 7

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”The Captivity ofHannah Dustin” (1702)

Answer 7

–Cotton Mather’s”The Captivity ofHannah Dustin”, included in his “Magnalia Christi Americana” (1702) was of similar cultural productivity
– in the Puritan imagination, captivity narratives were exploited as propaganda which promoted the hatred of the Native American other and stigmatized them as fiendish savages and devils in human shape
– The “Magnalia Christi Americana” (1702) is, as its subtitle announces, “The Ecclesiastical History of New England from its First Planting in 1620, until the Year of Our Lord 1698” and describes the religious development ofthe colonies in New England

– Cotton Mather (1663–1728) was an influential Puritan minister and church historian in New England

Question 8

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —Narratives after “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” (1682) & “The Captivity ofHannah Dustin” (1702)

Answer 8

–both of these examples were followed by numerous texts narrating the captivity of both European men and women at the hands of Native Americans
–in the mid-eighteenth century the “stylization of the captivity narrative” was commonplace (Pearce 1947–48)
–by this time, sensationalism largely superseded the religious aspect

Question 9

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —the capture of Jemima Boone

Answer 9

– the story of the capture of Jemima Boone, daughter of the famous frontiersman Daniel Boone, became particularly productive
– it was first recorded in John Filson’s The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucky (1784) in “Col. Daniel Boone’s Narrative of the Wars of Kentucky”:
“On the fourteenth day of July, 1776, two of Col. Calaway’s daughters, and one of mine, were taken prisoners near the fort. I immediately pursued the Indians, with only eight men, and on the sixteenth overtook them, killed two of the party, and recovered the girls.”

–> Daniel Boone (1734–1820): American pioneer and frontiersman; an early American folk hero who opened the so-called Wilderness Trail to Kentucky

Question 10

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”The Mountain Muse”

Answer 10

– this short narrative spawned a flurry of longer literary engagements, the first of which occurred in Daniel Bryan’s “The Mountain Muse” (1813), an epic poem on the adventures of Daniel Boone, in which the episode is elaborated
– in Bryan’s version the three young women are captured by Native Americans after rowing in a canoe across the river to pick flowers
– most of the Native Americans are represented as “Wolf-like savages” (Bryan 1813:) who seek to rape the women
–yet they are restrained by their “less barbarous” chief Costea

Question 11

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”The Abduction of Daniel Boone’s Daughter by the Indians”

Answer 11

–Charles [i.e., Karl Ferdinand] Wimar’sThe Abduction of Daniel Boone’s Daughter by the Indiansshows the capture of Jemima Boone by Cherokees and Shawnees in 1776
–the two extant versions of the painting were executed by the German-born American artist during a visit to the Art Academy at Düsseldorf
–they represent very different approaches to the subject

–> Karl Ferdinand Wimar (1828–1862): American artist known for his Indian subjects; emigrated at the age of 15 with his family from Germany to St. Louis

Question 12

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —The paintings by Charles Wimar, The Abduction of Daniel Boone’s Daughter by the Indians (1853)

[indigenous abducting the daughter with a boat crossing the river]

Answer 12

–in both paintings Wimar omitted the two daughters of Col. Calaway
–the earlier painting of 1853 otherwise follows the narrative as it developed in the wake of Bryan’s epic poem in the nineteenth century
–the Native Americans are represented as savages who physically force the young woman from her canoe
–the disarray of her dress once again suggests the sexual dimension, if in a much more reticent way than Maverick in his earlier frontispiece
–in the later version the artist changed the established narrative by introducing a raft on which the Native Americans bear away their captive

– the implications of this reconfiguration of the narrative are intriguing
– not only are the Native Americans presented as much more noble figures, but they do not physically touch the young woman whose dress is in no way disturbed
– her captivity is symbolically suggested by her crossed wrists
– more significantly, the situation appears to be separated from its narrative specificity and gains an allegorical dimension which is further supported with the motif of the crossing of the water
– in mythology, the crossing of a river frequently symbolizes the transition into an ‘other’ world – as with Proserpina, when she crosses the River Styx with Hades

– in this instance, the transition is from civilization to wilderness
– the addition of precious objects, among which the young woman is clearly the most precious, further enhances the impression that the painting gives articulation to the desperate attempt of the Native Americans to stem white westward expansion, as indicated in Bryan’s epic poem
– as Martha Levy Luft suggests, “[t]hese noble savages make a last attempt at staying the onslaught of the white man’s civilization by abducting the symbol of that civilization and carrying her into their domain – the wilderness.” (1982: 311)
–linked to the captivity narrative, the later version of Wimar’s painting accordingly offers a critical engagement with Manifest Destiny

Question 13

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —James Fenimore Cooper’s “The Last of the Mohicans” (1826)

Answer 13

–probably the most influential and culturally productive fictional captivity narrative was James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans (1826)
– it is, in terms of narrative chronology, the second of the five novels comprising the author’s Leatherstocking Tales, written between 1823 and 1841, though it was completed second, following after The Pioneers (1823), which chronologically is the fourth in the series

–> James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851): originally destined to become a sailor, which is reflected in his nautical novels, Cooper soon chose to become a writer; he is considered one of the first American writers able to live from their chosen profession. Cooper is credited with having established the genre of the historical novel in America, following the model of Walter Scott. In particular his Leatherstocking Tales were highly successful in America and abroad and have become culturally very productive

Question 14

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —Leatherstocking Tales

Answer 14

– the Leatherstocking Tales were hugely successful not only in America but also in Europe where they prompted a “Cooper mania” (see Rossbacher 1972)
– Cooper has been said to have been “the most widely read American author in Europe” into the early years of the twentieth century (Pells 1997)
– over the course of the five novels, Cooper describes the ever shifting frontier and westward expansion of the white settlers
– the chronologically final volume, The Prairie (1827), is set after the Louisiana Purchase (1803) in the Midwest to which Natty Bumppo has retreated from the proliferating white settlements and the destruction of the eastern forests

Question 15

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”The Last of the Mohicans” Plot

Answer 15

– set in the colonial theater of the Seven Years War in upstate New York in the year 1757, The Last of the Mohicans thematizes the conflict between French and English colonial troops and their respective Native American allies as well as the enmities between different Indian nations
– against the backdrop of this historical occurrence, the novel focuses on the capture of two young white women by Hurons led by their chief Magua, or Le Renard Subtil
–Cora and Alice are the daughters of the Scottish-born commander of Fort William Henry
– their rescue is attempted by the frontiersman Nathaniel Bumppo, known as Hawk-eye and La Logue Carabine, and his two Native American friends Chingachgook and Uncas as well as the English officer Duncan Heyward, who seeks to marry Alice

– they eventually succeed in tracking down the captives and their captors and, with the help of the nation of the Delawares, engage the Hurons in a fight
– Magua, the Huron chief, wishes the elder sister Cora to become his wife
– Uncas, the eponymous “Last of the Mohicans” and son of Chingachgook is also in love with Cora
– he pursues Magua and in their final confrontation is killed by the Huron after Cora has been murdered by one of Magua’s warriors
– Magua is subsequently shot by Hawk-eye

– the novel concludes with the burial of Uncas and Cora who are united in death, while Heyward and Alice return to civilization
– Hawk-eye and Chingachgook remain on the frontier

Question 16

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —Representation of “Last of the Mohicans”

Answer 16

–the landscape of upstate New York
– the historical colonial conflict between the French and the English
– Native Americans

Question 17

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” I

Answer 17

–Cooper’s descriptions of the landscape of upstate New York portray a romantic wilderness
–the author frequently resorts to tropes which have since become established, as for instance, when he refers to the “vaults” (LM, 115) of the forest which associate the landscape of the West with a “natural church” (Novak 2006)
– significantly, Cooper moreover also includes an explicitly historical perspective informed by, and contrasted to, the author’s and the reader’s hindsight, for instance, when Hawk-eye observes:
“God knows what the country would be, if the settlements should ever spread far from the two rivers. Both hunting and war would lose their beauty.” (LM, 311)

–this statement is implicitly answered by the narrator only a few pages further on, when he notes:
“Since the period of our tale, the active spirit of the country has surrounded it with a belt of rich and thriving settlements”

– though he acknowledges that
“none but the hunter or the savage is ever known, even now, to penetrate its rude and wild recesses” (LM, 313)

Question 18

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” II

Answer 18

–the colonization of America is critically interrogated from the very beginning of the novel, though the text remains ambivalent
– language is identified as a tool of colonization in the description of the setting of the tale, which takes place around what by the French was designated the Lac du Saint-Sacrément and was named by the English Lake George:
“The two united to rob the untutored possessors of its wooded scenery of their native right to perpetuate its original appellation of ‘Horican’”
–it is quite telling that Cooper henceforth continues to refer to the lake consistently by its Indian name

–when the main protagonists, Hawk-eye and Chingachgook, are introduced, they are in the middle of a debate which is centered on the colonization of the land whose beginnings readers are obliged to imagine for themselves
–Hawk-eye addresses his Native American friend:
“Your fathers came from the setting sun, crossed the big river, fought the people of the country, and took the land; and mine came from the red sky of the morning, over the salt lake, and did their work much after the fashion that had been set them by yours; then let God judge the matter between us, and friends spare their words!”

Question 19

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” III

Answer 19

–again, the novel remains ambivalent, even as Hawk-eye concedes that he is “willing to own that my people have many ways, of which, as an honest man, I can’t approve” and acknowledges that “every story has its two sides”
–but towards Heyward, Hawk-eye is unequivocal when he describes the effect of white expansion on the Native American:
“You see before you, a chief of the great Mohican Sagamores! Once his family could chase their deer over tracts of country wider than that which belongs to the Albany Patteroon [sic], without crossing brook or hill, that was not their own;· but what is left to their descendant! He may find his six feet of earth, when God chooses; and keep it in peace, perhaps, if he has a friend who will take the pains to sink his head so low, that the ploughshares cannot reach it!”

[Sagamore is the title of a paramount chief. In colonial America under Dutch rule, a patroonwas a land-holderwithmanorial rightsto large tracts of land.]

Question 20

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” IV

Answer 20

–even the fiendish Magua, though cunning and treacherous, articulates just remonstrations against white settlement as he justifies Native American resistance:
“Was it war, when the tired Indian rested at the sugar tree, to taste his corn! who filled the bushes with creeping enemies! who drew the knife! whose tongue was peace, while his heart was coloured with blood! Did Magua say that the hatchet was out of the ground, and that his hand had dug it up?” (LM, 128)
–later, in an oration to the Delawares, trying to win Cora off them, Magua denounces the whites:
“With his tongue, he stops the ears of the Indians; his heart teaches him to pay warriors to fight his battles; his cunning tells him how to get together the goods of the earth; and his arms enclose the land from the shores of the salt water, to the islands of the great lake. His gluttony makes him sick. God gave him enough, and yet he wants all. Such are the pale-faces”

Question 21

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” V

Answer 21

–among the Delawares, the venerable centenarian Tamenund reiterates these sentiments toward Cora as she pleads for protection against Magua:
“‘I know that the pale-faces are a proud and hungry race. I know that they claim, not only to have the earth, but that the meanest of their colour is better than the Sachems of the red man. The dogs and crows of their tribes,’ continued the earnest old chieftain, without heeding the wounded spirit of his listener, whose head was nearly crushed to the earth, in shame, as he proceeded, ‘would bark and caw, before they would take a woman to their wigwams, whose blood was not of the colour of snow. But let them not boast before the face of the Manitto too loud. They entered the land at the rising, and may yet go off at the setting sun! I have often seen the locusts strip the leaves from the trees, but the season of blossoms has always come again!’”

[A Sachem was a paramount chief, in hierarchy ranking even above a Sagamore]

–this passage is interesting in particular because it implicitly responds to the notion of Manifest Destiny (though the phenomenon was not as yet identified by this term)
–Tamenund projects white greed to lead the settlers on beyond America
– he also implicitly articulates the hope of the restauration of Native Americans to their land

Question 22

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” VI

Answer 22

– like Chingachgook and Hawk-eye acknowledged the ‘reverse’ Manifest Destiny of the Delawares, whose trajectory countered that of the whites, Tamenund also asserts:
“‘[…] If we go towards the setting sun, we shall find streams that run into the great lakes of the sweet water; there would a Mohican die, like fishes of the sea, in the clear springs. When the Manitto is ready, and shall say, ‘come,’ we will follow the river to the sea, and take our own again.’ Such, Delawares, is the belief of the children of the Turtle! Our eyes are on the rising, and not towards the setting sun!” (LM, 461)
–the ending of the novel reaffirms its ambivalence in that it indicates both Tamenund’s despair and death wish as well as a vague hope of the time of the Native Americans to return again in the future:
“Why should Tamenund stay? The pale-faces are masters of the earth, and the time of the red-men has not yet come again. My day has been too long. In the morning I saw the sons of Unamis happy and strong; and yet, before the night has come, have I lived to see the last warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans!” (LM, 520)

[Sons of Unamis; i.e., the Mohicans]

Question 23

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” VII

Answer 23

–as emerged already from Tamenund’s response to Cora, racial discrimination is a focal issue in the novel
–this culminates in the, to contemporaries without doubt shocking revelation, that Cora is in fact not white but what would probably have been described as a quadroon or, perhaps, an octoroon
–when Heyward asks Munro for the hand of his daughter, there is some initial confusion, because the father assumes that Cora is the daughter in question, though Heyward quickly abuses him of this notion and declares his love for Alice
–at first, Munro takes offence, and it is perhaps useful to follow their exchange in some detail as the old officer explains himself to Heyward:
“[…] I had seen many regions, and had shed much blood in different lands, before duty called me to the islands of the West Indies. There it was my lot to form a connexion with one who in time became my wife, and the mother of Cora, She was the daughter of a gentleman of those isles, by a lady, whose misfortune it was, if you will,” said the old man, proudly, “to be descended, remotely, from that unfortunate class, who are so basely enslaved to administer to the wants of a luxurious people! Ay, sir, that is a curse entailed on Scotland, by her unnatural union with a foreign and trading people. But could I find a man among them, who would dare to reflect her descent on my child, he should feel the weight of a father’s anger! Ha! Major Heyward, you are yourself born at the south, where these unfortunate beings are considered of a race inferior to your own!”
“’Tis most unfortunately true, sir,” said Duncan, unable any longer to prevent his eyes from sinking to the floor in embarrassment.

[A quadroon refers to a person with one quarter African and three quarters European ancestry; an octoroon refers to one-eighth African ancestry and a hexadecaroon for one-sixteenth]

Question 24

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” VIII

Answer 24

“And you cast it on my child as a reproach! You scorn to mingle the blood of the Heywards, with one so degraded – lovely and virtuous though she be?” fiercely demanded the jealous parent.

“Heaven protect me from a prejudice so unworthy of my reason!” returned Duncan, at the same time conscious of such a feeling, and that as deeply rooted as if it had been engrafted in his nature. “The sweetness, the beauty, the witchery of your younger daughter, Colonel Munro, might explain my motives, without imputing to me this injustice.” (LM, 232)

–a number of significant issues are addressed in this exchange, beginning with the distinction between alleged Scottish liberalism and the mercantilism of the English which – implicitly – is castigated as the origin of racial discrimination; it should be remembered that the novel was published at the height of the abolitionist debate in England which led to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833

Question 25

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” IX

Answer 25

–Munro moreover refutes notions of the innate physical and moral degradation of the racial other
–his speech is a passionate plea not only for interracial commingling but also for the resulting hybridity, otherwise known as miscegenation – a phenomenon we have already discussed in relation most pertinently to Broken Arrow and The Searchers
–the final point I would like to make in relation to Munro’s defense of his daughter’s racial hybridity is that Cooper articulates very clearly the unconscious bias of Heyward against the racial other
–though Heyward denies the older man’s accusation – and truthfully so, because he was not aware of Cora’s mixed racial heritage – the author nevertheless emphasizes that the cultural bias against the racial other is deeply ingrained in him

Question 26

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” X

Answer 26

–the question of race and racial purity is indeed a pervasive topic in the novel
–Hawk-eye insists countless times on his own racial purity
–his recurrent ardent assertion that he is a “genuine white” with “no cross in his blood” (LM, 38 and 46) seeks to anticipate and refute the suspicion that, because he lives among Native Americans, his racial purity may be tainted
earlier, we saw that the captivity narrative always contends with the fear of going native

–in The Last of the Mohicans, this is averted by the strong character of Cora who rather dies than suffer being ‘defiled’
–for her, other than in most captivity narratives, there is no triumphant rescue and restoration to civilization
–rather, as we will see, she is ultimately confined to a kind of limbo in the way in which her death is interpreted differently by different parties in the novel

Question 27

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” XI

Answer 27

–in the “Leatherstocking Tales”, it is rather the white frontiersman, Hawk-eye, who is construed as the wanderer between worlds and who holds on to his whiteness and all its connotations, as we have seen in his frequent assertions as to his racial purity and as outlined by the author in the preface to the first edition of the collected Leatherstocking novels (1850):

“The idea of delineating a character that possessed little of civilization but its highest principles as they are exhibited in the uneducated, and all of savage life that is not incompatible with these great rules of conduct, is perhaps natural to the situation in which Natty was placed. He is too proud of his origins to sink into the condition of the wild Indian, and too much a man of the woods not to imbibe as much as was at all desirable, from his friends and companions. In a moral point of view it was the intention to illustrate the effect of seed scattered by the way side. To use his own language, his ‘gifts’ were ‘white gifts,’ and he was not disposed to bring on them discredit. On the other hand, removed from nearly all the temptations of civilized life, placed in the best associations of that which is deemed savage, and favorably disposed by nature to improve such advantages, it appeared to the writer that his hero was a fit subject to represent the better qualities of both conditions, without pushing either to extremes. There was no violent stretch of the imagination, perhaps, in supposing one of civilized associations in childhood, retaining many of his earliest lessons amid the scenes of the forest. Had these early impressions, however, not been sustained by continued, though casual connexion with men of his own color, if not of his own caste, all our information goes to show he would soon have lost every trace of his origin.” (Cooper 1985)

–Cooper offers here with Natty Bumppo a kind of ideal product – and model – of the interracial contact which is, however, confined to moral habits and practical skills but does not envisage biological hybridity

Question 28

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” XII

Answer 28

– it is intriguing that Chingachgook similarly claims to be “an unmixed man” (LM, 42)
–Chingachgook and his son Uncas as well as the Delawares with whom they are associated are construed in the novel as noble savages

– Uncas, in particular, is represented as the future hope of the Native Americans
– after rescuing the sisters for the first time from Magua, he is described as follows:
“Uncas stood, fresh and blood-stained from the combat, a calm, and, apparently, an unmoved looker-on, it is true, but with eyes that had already lost their fierceness, and were beaming with a sympathy, that elevated him far above the intelligence, and advanced him probably centuries before the practices of his nation.” (LM, 166)
–Uncas is, in a way, the Native American equivalent of Natty Bumppo

Question 29

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” XIII

Answer 29

–the physical description of Uncas corresponds to his spiritual nobility
– his figure is portrayed as “upright, flexible […], graceful and unrestrained in the attitudes and movements of nature”

“They felt it might be a being partially benighted in the vale of ignorance, but it could not be one who would willingly devote his rich natural gifts to the purposes of wanton treachery. The ingenuous Alice gazed at his free air and proud carriage, as she would have looked upon some precious relic of the Grecian chisel, to which life had been imparted, by the intervention of a miracle; while Heyward, though accustomed to see the perfection of form which abounds among the uncorrupted natives, openly expressed his admiration at such an unblemished specimen of the noblest proportions of man.” (LM, 72–3)

– but this positive image of the Native American other is subverted with the representation of Magua, also called Le Renard Subtil, and of the Hurons
–they are portrayed as fiendish savages in the tradition of the Puritan captivity narrative
–frequently, with emphasis on their cruelty and cunning, they are described as “demons” and “devils” and are associated with “hell”

Question 30

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” XIV

Answer 30

–about Magua, for instance, it is said:
“At such moments, it would not have been difficult to have fancied the dusky savage the Prince of Darkness, brooding on his own fancied wrongs, and plotting evil.”

–the caves which form part of the Huron camp are described as follows:
“The place, seen by its dim and uncertain light, appeared like the shades of the infernal regions, across which unhappy ghosts and savage demons were flitting in multitudes.” (LM, 497)

–perhaps the most powerful denunciation of racial inequality – and, indeed, of inequality – is Munro’s assertion when he thanks the Delaware women for burying Cora that “the time shall not be distant, when we may assemble around his throne, without distinction of sex, or rank, or colour!” (LM, 515)
–Hawk-eye, realizing the enormity of Munro’s vision and shaking his head in disbelief, decides that it is too unrealistic to be articulated and offers a very different translation:
“Then turning to the women, he made such a communication of the other’s gratitude, as he deemed most suited to the capacities of his listeners.” (LM, 515–16)

Question 31

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” XV

Answer 31

–in contrast to her ‘colorless’ (half-)sister Alice, Cora is by far the more interesting character
–she is stronger, more courageous, and more mature than her (half-)sister
–nevertheless, in the coding of the novel’s production context, she is from the outset at a disadvantage due to her dark hair and complexion – even though her racial heritage is only revealed in the middle of the novel
–Cora is described as follows:
“The tresses of this lady were shining and black, like the plumage of the raven. Her complexion was not brown, but it rather appeared charged with the colour of the rich blood, that seemed ready to burst its bounds. And yet there was neither coarseness, nor want of shadowing, in a counte­nance that was exquisitely regular and dignified, and surpassingly beautiful.”

–these physical attributes are eventually explained with Cora’s racial heritage
–while this is otherwise mentioned no further, it implicitly explains also the attraction the not fully white young woman exerts on both Magua and Uncas
– the novel nevertheless cannot envisage the actual union between Cora and a Native American

Question 32

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” XVI

Answer 32

–one implication of captivity is naturally also the sexual aspect
–Magua’s desire for Cora is to some extent honorable, he does not violate her
–nevertheless, the mere thought of the union with the fiendish savage is “an evil worse than death” (see LM, 114)
–it is, tellingly, Heyward who, from a male perspective, first articulates this attitude
–when Cora informs Heyward and Alice of Magua’s offer to release Alice if Cora submits to him, it is once again Heyward who gives a moral assessment:
“‘[…] Name not the horrid alternative again; the thought itself is worse than a thousand deaths.’ ‘That such would by your answer I well knew!” exclaimed Cora, her cheeks flushing, and her dark eyes once more sparkling with the glow of the lingering but momentary emotions of a woman. ‘What says my Alice? for her will I submit without another murmur.’” (LM, 157–8)

–Alice eventually also agrees, but the notion of a sister sacrifice has been vented
– its rejection is a forceful reiteration of the racial discrimination of the Native American other, but also a confirmation of male-dominated gender constructions

Question 33

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” XVII

Answer 33

–in this context, it seems also significant that, while Uncas clearly is in love with Cora, the issue is resolved with the death of both the young chief and Cora
– it does not emerge from the novel if the latter was even aware of Uncas’s love
–it is during Cora’s funeral rite that the Delaware women construe the notion of their union in the next world

–it is, once again, Hawk-eye who indirectly comments as a focalizer figure:
“But when they spoke of the future prospects of Cora and Uncas, he shook his head, like one who knew the error of their simple creed, and resuming his reclining attitude, he maintained it until the ceremony – if that might be called a ceremony, in which feeling was so deeply imbued – was finished. Happily for the self-command of both Heyward and Munro, they knew not the meaning of the wild sounds they heard.” (LM, 510)

– the thought of the interracial union remains prohibited
–it is another manifestation of the ambiguity of the novel in which the female protagonist herself is not racially ‘pure’

Question 34

Literary Constructions of the American West

Western Novels —Basics

Answer 34

–while indubitably about the American West and introducing crucial narrative elements which have become constitutive of the Western, if not all of them simultaneously – such as the captivity narrative, the conflict between white settlers and Native Americans, and survival in the wilderness – The Last of the Mohicans just as obviously is not a Western novel
–part of the issue is that it is a historical novel, though most Western novels are also historical
–another aspect is its setting in the American north-east, though obviously this too, in historical reality – and in the setting of the novel – once was the frontier
– genres emerge from the crystallization of recurring conventions which adopt, and adapt, conventions negotiated between producers, consumers, and institutions

Question 35

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” XIX

Question 36

Literary Constructions of the American West

Captivity narratives —”Last of the Mohicans” XX