Sample Student Research Project 2015: Essay
LITR
4328 American Renaissance / Model Assignments
Sample Student Research Project 2015:
Essay
Michael McDonald
May
2, 2015
Cowboys and Indians
In James Fenimore Cooper’s novels’
The Pioneers and
The Last of the Mohicans the novels
show the ever growing culture of pioneer America and the expansions of colonies.
Cooper paints a vivid picture between the battles of the laws of man and the
laws of nature. Natty, the main protagonist of the stories, is a white man who
has adopted the Native Americans way of life. Natty does not hunt for sport and
never takes more than he needs to survive. Natty chooses not to live amongst the
rest of the townspeople; instead he lives within the woods with nature. Due to
Natty's chosen lifestyle one could argue that Cooper set the mold for the modern
cowboy. Often times cowboys are presented in a way that allows them to be seen as
romantic figures. In a vast majority of cowboy stories the heroes are on a
journey to save a woman they love or to find fortunes to lead a better life for
themselves. Natty’s romanticism does not quite present itself in this fashion,
but does draw similarities to modern cowboys as both Natty and the cowboys more
often than not live amongst nature, living lives that do not require an
abundance of wealth or material possession to maintain. The goal of this paper
is to show Natty as a romantic hero and how that separates him from other
characters within the novels; as well as to draw some parallels to how Natty
inspired the modern day cowboy archetype.
In The Last of the Mohicans
Natty, called Hawkeye throughout the novel, rescues a group of English colonists
from their Indian guide who has betrayed them, Magua. Hawkeye is travelling with
his two Mohican companions Chingachgook and Uncas. Hawkeye creates an
interesting duality within the novel as he is a white man who surrounds himself
by Indian companions, and seemingly adopting the lifestyle of his companions.
Hawkeye throughout the novel shows great skill that separates him for the rest
of the characters in the novel. This skill appears in his knowledge of the land
that the group is traversing and also his skill with his rifle. Hawkeye exhibits
his skill with his weapon when the group is attacked and Hawkeye shoots and
Indian who was hiding in a tree. Hawkeye does not kill the Indian, but instead
knocks him from his perch leaving him to hang from a branch above the waterfall.
Duncan begs Hawkeye to put the Indian out of his misery, but Hawkeye refuses.
When the young Indian begins to fall Hakweye shoots, “The lightning is not
quicker than was the flame from the rifle of Hawkeye; the limbs of the victim
trembled and contracted, the head fell to the bosom, and the body parted the
foaming waters like lead, when the element closed above it, in its ceaseless
velocity, and every vestige of the unhappy Huron was lost forever. No shout of
triumph succeeded this important advantage, but even the Mohicans gazed at each
other in silent horror. A single yell burst from the woods, and all was again
still. Hawkeye, who alone appeared to reason on the occasion, shook his head at
his own momentary weakness, even uttering his self-disapprobation aloud”
(Mohicans 8.19-20). This shot appears to have taken a great deal of skill, but
was as Hawkeye initially rasoned unnecessary, it appears though in Hawkeyes
youth he felt a need to exhibit that skill nonetheless. Hawkeye appears to a
handsome middle aged man in the novel, but does not take part in any kind of
romantic element of the story. Instead Hawkeyes romance is with the very land
the group traverses. Hawkeye expresses this love and understanding of the
frontier, when the group is hiding in the waterfall exclaiming:
"Ay!
there are the falls on two sides of us, and the river above and below. If you
had daylight, it would be worth the trouble to step up on the height of this
rock, and look at the perversity of the water. It falls by no rule at all;
sometimes it leaps, sometimes it tumbles; there it skips; here it shoots; in one
place 'tis white as snow, and in another 'tis green as grass; hereabouts, it
pitches into deep hollows, that rumble and crush the 'arth; and thereaways, it
ripples and sings like a brook, fashioning whirlpools and gullies in the old
stone, as if 'twas no harder than trodden clay. The whole design of the river
seems disconcerted. First it runs smoothly, as if meaning to go down the descent
as things were ordered; then it angles about and faces the shores; nor are there
places wanting where it looks backward, as if unwilling to leave the wilderness,
to mingle with the salt. Ay, lady, the fine cobweb-looking cloth you wear at
your throat is coarse, and like a fishnet, to little spots I can show you, where
the river fabricates all sorts of images, as if having broke loose from
order, it would try its hand at everything. And yet what does it amount to!
After the water has been suffered so to have its will, for a time, like a
headstrong man, it is gathered together by the hand that made it, and a few rods
below you may see it all, flowing on steadily toward the sea, as was
foreordained from the first foundation of the 'arth” (Mohicans 6.14)
Hawkeye’s distinct and abundant knowledge of the land helps solidify his status
of a romantic hero. Hawkeye’s knowledge of the land gives way to modern cowboys
in their own knowledge of the land in which they reside. Upon rescuing the group
Hawkeye exclaims, “Offer your prayers to Him who can give us wisdom to
circumvent the cunning of the devils who fill these woods,” calmly interrupted
the scout, "but spare your offers of money, which neither you may live to
realize, nor I to profit by. These Mohicans and I will do what man's thoughts
can invent, to keep such flowers, which, though so sweet, were never made for
the wilderness, from harm, and that without hope of any other recompense but
such as God always gives to upright dealings” (Mohicans 5.13). Hawkeye shows
some romantic language here when describing the aid that he and his companions
will provide for the group. Cooper in his introduction to
The Last of the Mohicans describes
the Native American people stating; “Few men exhibit greater diversity, or, if
we may so express it, greater antithesis of character, than the native warrior
of North America. In war, he is daring, boastful, cunning, ruthless,
self-denying, and self-devoted; in peace, just, generous, hospitable,
revengeful, superstitious, modest, and commonly chaste. These are qualities, it
is true, which do not distinguish all alike; but they are so far the
predominating traits of these remarkable people as to be characteristic” (Cooper
Introduction Course Website). These traits that Cooper describes in finding the
Native Americans, he seems to have put in the character of Hawkeye as well.
Because of this Hawkeye has the stature of a romantic hero, he is more
distinguished from the rest of the characters in the novel. David Levernz argues
that Cooper succeeded in creating Hawkeye in such a manner ,stating “The first
Last Real Man in America, Cooper's Natty Bumppo, dramatizes a similar white
flight from civilized unmanliness to Native-American traditions of patriarchal
comradeship. Especially in The Last of the Mohicans (1826), the novel-romance
that established Natty's image as heroic frontiersman, an elegiac nostalgia
suffuses Cooper's portraits of red and white heroes alike. As a variety of
critics have demonstrated, Cooper simultaneously replicates and displaces
expansionist conflicts by subsuming a collective story of manifest destiny in an
elegy for primitive manly character” (Levernz 754-55). Because of this the
character of Hawkeye grew in pop culture to extravagant heights.
Cooper's novel was made into a movie and “the film focuses on Hawkeye's
character as the primary protagonist who performs many of the actions attributed
to others in the novel” (Rinne).
The movie version of Hawkeye differs from the novel as it creates a Hawkeye who
is no longer in love with the land, but instead taking up the stereotypical
romantic journey to save a damsel in distress. The Hawkeye character loses some
of its luster because of this and shoehorns him into being the typical “love
interest/hero” mold that most modern romantic stories reside in.
Unlike in The Last of the Mohicans,
Hawkeye is no longer a young exuberant man. Hawkeye has appeared to calm in
nature and attempting to live a peaceful life, but is often displeased by the
events and actions of the neighboring town. The event that takes place during
The Pioneers that helps to show
Natty, previously known as Hawkeye, as a romantic hero takes place after the
winter ice had begun to melt away from the river and the birds began to migrate
again. The flock of birds is said to be able to feed the army of Xerxes it is so
large (Cooper 245). “If the heavens were alive with pigeons, the whole village
seemed equally in motion, with men, women, and children” (Cooper 245). The
village comes alive with the idea of an easy taking and the men and boys of the
village arm themselves so that the hunt can lead to an abundant supply of
pigeon.
The
reports of the firearms became rapid, whole volleys rising from the plain, as
flocks of more than ordinary numbers darted over the opening, shadowing the
field like a cloud; and then the light smoke of a single piece would issue from
among the leafless bushes on the mountain, as death was hurled on the retreat of
the affrighted birds, who were rising from a volley, in a vain effort to escape.
(Cooper 246)
Cooper depicts not a hunt of the pigeons, but an outright slaughter. It is in
this slaughter that Cooper aims to drive home that the way that Natty lives and
conducts himself is far superior to that of the “society” he neighbors. Despite
Judge Temples, the head of the town by which Natty resides, respect for nature
and the laws that he himself is supposed to enforce in regards to hunting, he
gives into the sport of the “hunt” that was taking place. This distinction
between the characters is important because it provides an idea that most
romantic literature tends to try and portray, that idea being that the laws and
bindings of societal life cloud our view of the goodness of nature. Natty is
present during this event, but does not take participate, he in fact chastises
all those who do and is then challenged by one of the partakers. Billy Kirby,
Natty’s challenger, attempts to pick off a single bird that has distanced itself
from the flock, but fails in this task, only to have Natty take the bird with
ease. This feat impresses the masses taking part in the slaughter and they
gather round Natty to examine this feat. Natty is again shown to be a romantic
hero, not by his own adoration of nature, but instead by the feat of which he
just accomplished. Natty’s deadeye aim could have potentially have been
inspiration for the gun slinging feats of modern cowboys. Natty then exclaims
“Haven’t I killed loons before now, lad, that dive at the flash… It’s much
better to kill only such as you want, without wasting your powder and lead, than
to be firing into God’s creatures in this wicked manner. But I came out for a
bird, and you know the reason why I like small game. Mr. Oliver, and now I have
got one I will go home, for o don’t relish to see these wasty ways that you are
all practysing, as if the least thing wasn’t made for use, and not to destroy”
(Cooper 249). Natty reinforces Coopers disdain for established society and its
views by taking only what he needs and returning home. By doing this Natty does
not disrespect nature, he allows the land to provide only what he needs from it
and leaves. Temple seems to hear this message from Natty and begins to call for
an end to the massacre taking place, but when a larger flock comes into view, he
forgets this and joins in again in the killing. After this flock passes Temple
remembers Natty’s words and calls for a true end to the occurrence. When Temple
begins to leave the fields he begins to feel a pang of guilt for the actions he
partook in. It is with these feelings of guilt that Cooper presents a message to
his audience that Natty Bumppo’s way of living is far nobler than that of Temple
and his townspeople. In the course of this event the audience is given a chance
to see how the two sets of laws that the men abide by guide them in their lives.
Temple is driven by a set of written laws that really hold no sort of moral
bindings to him, as he can take part in the sort of atrocity that had just
occurred and not feel guilty for the actions if it had not been for Natty’s
condemning words. Natty on the other hand is bound by nature and understands the
repercussions of abundance, knowing that one should only take what they need and
not all that they desire builds a respect and oneness with the land he resides.
It is by these laws that the two men live by that separates them and gives
importance to Natty’s choosing to live away from society.
Coopers character of Natty Bumppo is known by many names, but the man
himself remains wholly romantic throughout his life. In his youth his youth and
his old age Natty exhibits a great love for whatever frontier that he calls home
understanding that the land provides and protects him in ways that the growing
society cannot. Unlike in his youth Natty no longer in his old age feels the
need to prove his distinguished skill with a rifle that makes him stand above
those around him. Natty is a wholly romantic character, whose often cowboy-like
tendencies fall by the wayside in his twilight years to make room for the new
frontiersman.
Works
Cited
Cooper Fenimore, James. The Last of the
Mohicans.
Cooper Fenimore, James. The Pioneers.
Leverenz, David. “The Last Real Man in America: From Natty Bumppo to Batman”.
American Literary History. Vol. 3, No. 4 (Winter, 1991). Oxford
University Press pp. 753-781
Rinne, Craig. “White Romance and American Indian Action in Hollywood's The Last
of the Mohicans (1992)”. Studies in
American Indian Literatures. Series 2, Vol. 13,No. 1, (Spring 2001) , pp.
3-22
Cooper Introduction to The Last of the Mohicans on course website.
"Great Star" flag of pre-Civil War USA