LITR 4232: American Renaissance

University of Houston-Clear Lake, spring 2002

Student Presentation Summary

Student Selection Reading from

The Last of the Mohicans

Reader:     Patricia Coleman

Recorder:       Megan Yeates

Thursday, 29 January

Objective 2: To study the contemporaneous movement of “Romanticism”, the narrative genre of “romance”, and the related styles of the “gothic” and “the sublime”

Objective 3: To use literature as a basis for discussing representative problems and subjects of American culture (new historicism) such as equality; race, gender, class;…emergence fo the individual;…nature or land…

All quotes are taken from The Last of the Mohicans unless noted otherwise.

I would like to begin by looking at objective 2, focusing on the sublime.

Referring to the Edmund Burke handout; “When danger or pain press too nearly, they are incapable of giving any delight, and are simply terrible: but at certain distances and with certain modifications, they may be, and they are delightful, as we every day experience.” On page 179, the element of distance is used to create the sublime. In the passage beginning “When, however, they gained the flattened surface…” we see Cora looking down on the massacre below. She is removed from the incident physically and mentally to a place of safety and she cannot help but watch the horror below.

Objective 3 deals with race gender and class. Beginning with gender, Cora is described as a strong woman. Nevertheless, the issue of her gender prevents her from doing many things in her life. The Salique Law is introduced on Page 154, the passage beginning, “We have a wise ordinance in our Salique Laws…” This law states that women may not inherit titles, and therefore power. This shows that although Cora is capable of holding a position of power, her gender prevents it from being a reality.

The second of these issues is race. This also crosses with the issue of class. On page 159, beginning with “I plighted my faith to Alice Graham…” continuing to the end of the last full paragraph, race becomes a major issue between Duncan and Colonel Munro. Duncan is forced to face his bigotry when he learns that Cora is a descendant of slaves. We also see the irony that Munro is unable to marry the woman he desires due to his status and in the end not only does he marry her but also she becomes the stepmother of Cora.

At this point Dr. White interjects: Munro is monetarily enriched by his marriage as well. One parallel with this from English Literature is Jane Eyre. This is the same story line with Rochester marrying Bertha to increase his status.

I would also like to examine the phrase “Man without a cross.” Several possible meanings could be pulled from the text. These are but a sampling.

On page 126, the passage beginning “Forty days and forty nights did the imps…”; page 183, the passage beginning “Revenge is an Indian feeling…” and page 192, the passage beginning “I therefore judge, that a red-skin is not far from the truth…” From these passages, I came to two possible meanings. The first is that there is no ill will towards one’s fellow man. There is reference to revenge being Indian (p 183). There is also the statement of lack of discredit for a man without a cross (p 192). The second possible meaning could be that there is no cross in the blood, meaning pure blooded. The statement on page 183 could be read in this way. The statement on page 126 ties back to the title of this book. Uncas is the last pure blood Mohican. The knights of the forest are all men without a cross. They are pure blooded.

Discussion Question:

Did anyone else find any parallel that could be drawn to the “Man without a cross” throughout the story? Are there any other hidden meanings for this statement?

Discussion:

Stephanie: I feel it might have to do with the fact that [Hawkeye] didn’t have a cross to bear like Christ did. Or maybe he was making it clear that he didn’t ascribe to the cristian religion.

Diane: He wasn’t exactly white or Indian; he was more in the middle. He didn’t really ascribe to the White ways and he didn’t fully ascribe to the Indian ways, either.

Candy: I look at it the same way. He wasn’t a Christian, but he didn’t have the same spiritual beliefs that the Indians had.

Diane: Exactly. He lived like the Indians, but he didn’t completely share all of the Indian’s beliefs.

Val: There were several spots where he referred to organized religion as we know it and it felt like he was more in tune with nature than with any form of organized religion.

Dr. White: At one point there was an argument between Hawkeye and David Gamut- David claims that the Book of God has all the answers, and Hawkeye replies that the Book of Nature speaks to him.

Sheri: The cross may be a symbol of organized religion and the white man’s religion, but he has his own religion of symbols and things that the white man wouldn’t be in tune with, and that’s how he separates himself. He makes other people aware that he doesn’t fall in to those categories.

Diane: But he does believe in a higher power.

Kate: Hawkeye is not burdened by what to do with his life. Whereas, Uncas is. He has to carry the weight of being the last generation Mohican. Hawkeye is not burdened the way other people in the story are.

Dr. White: In history, attitudes toward religion are pretty sound while attitudes toward nature are mixed, in general. The thought is God is heaven and not on earth, not in nature, but above nature. You can see Hawkeye respects both ends a little bit. Americans have inherited a lot of ideas from Romanticism; one of them is that generally, Americans are a religious people. Hawkeye is still religious, just not in a traditional or formal way.

Patricia: It’s really interesting to find out now that Uncas is the prince of the Mohicans and how it relates to the “Man without a cross” theme.