Reader: Julie O’Gea

Presentation: The Last of the Mohicans, through chapter thirteen (through p. 133 in Penguin Classics edition.)

The presentation summary will cover the following:

Objective 2 – To study the movement of "Romanticism," the narrative genre of "romance," and the related styles of the "gothic" and "the sublime."  In this presentation we will look at all three styles (romanticism, 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; modernization and tradition; the family; the individual and the community; nature; the writer's conflicted presence in an anti-intellectual society.  For the purpose of this discussion, we will focus on societal roles.

Objective 2

The second objective of this class asks us to look at the related aspects of romanticism, the gothic and the sublime.  This novel is full of all three styles.  One can see the notion of the romantic in Hawkeye’s reaction to Alice and Cora when he meets the group for the first time.  (In chapter four on page 39 at the end of the first long paragraph) “As he [Hawkeye] repassed the females, he paused a moment to gaze upon their beauty, answering to the smile and a nod of Alice with a look of open pleasure” (39).  The women are an “escape,” if you will, from the barbaric situation.  In fact in the lines preceding this encounter, we see the women contrasted with Magua: “…the runner leaned against a tree, where he stood the close examination of the scout with an air unmoved, though with a look so dark and savage, that it might in itself excite fear.”  In this context, the women are truly an escape from the harshness of the situation.

Objective 2 also requires that we look at the gothic aspects of this novel.  As discussed during our last meeting, the gothic is fairly easy to recognize, because it has more to do with physical descriptions.  The gothic involves the mixing of shadow and light which creates a feeling of uneasiness due to the unknown.  In chapter five (page 45, second paragraph) is a good example of a gothic description of the forest:

Glancing his eyes around, with a vain effort to pierce the gloom that was thickening beneath the leafy arches of the forest…(to the end of the paragraph).  (45)

While the physical description of the forest is unmistakably gothic, there is also some sublime in this paragraph.

As one of our classmates so eloquently put it “…the sublime is an accidental brush with the supernatural.” 

The elements of the sublime are revealed in “…twenty times he fancied he could distinguish the horrid visages of his lurking foes, peering from their hiding places, in never-ceasing watchfulness of the movements of his party.”  The forest seems to take on human form here, which would be a brush with the supernatural.  Hawkeye feels as if he is being watched because the trees seem to be morphing into his enemies. 

Perhaps a better example of the sublime is found in the description of the caverns where the group seeks refuge from their enemy.   (On page 55)

Ay! There are the falls on two sides of us, and river above and below…(to the end of the paragraph). (55)

The river is personified.  The river is described as “…having broke loose from order, …” and Hawkeye claims the river “…would try its hand at everything.”  The idea of the river having a will of its own involves the supernatural.  It is also interesting to note that the beginning of this description demonstrates how this same cavernous area in “daylight…would be worth the trouble to step up on the height of this rock…” to get a good look at it.  This suggests that there is also a romantic side to this picture of nature.  The fact that the caverns are a sort of entrapment causes them to be gothic, as well.  So, in actuality, this passage embodies all three styles in Objective 2: romantic, gothic and sublime.

Summary:  This novel is packed with examples of the romantic, the gothic and the sublime.  They involve not only physical descriptions of people and places, but are also embodied in actions and sounds.

Question: Can you give examples of the romantic, gothic or sublime which are not physical descriptions?

Objective 3

To satisfy objective three, we will look at a few societal roles as described in this novel.  In the convergence of these two cultures, the Indian and the white man, there are sure to be differences in how they view women’s roles.  For example, when Heyward tells Magua that they will rest and continue once “the ladies are refreshed,” Magua comments “The pale faces make themselves dogs to their women…and when they want to eat, their warriors must lay aside the tomahawk to feed their laziness” (42).  In Magua’s culture, the warriors would evidently not have brought their females on a hunt with them, much less pause to allow the women to rest. 

In contrast to Magua’s bitterness about waiting on the women to rest is Unca’s romanticized attendance to them on page 56. 

Uncas acted as attendant to the females, performing all the little offices within his power, with a mixture of dignity and anxious grace, that served to amuse Heyward, who well knew that it was an utter innovation on the Indian customs, which forbid their warriors to descend to any menial employment, especially in favour of their women.  As the rites of hospitality were, however, considered sacred among them, this little departure from the dignity of manhood excited no audible comment. (56)

By demonstrating the difference in Magua’s and Unca’s reaction to stepping outside their own customs, Cooper is creating an alliance on the part of the reader to the tribe Cooper wants the reader to favor.  Rather than conveying that all the Indians are good, or bad, he causes the reader to differentiate between the various groups.  This was huge for the audiences that were contemporary to Cooper’s time, and it’s still huge for today’s readers.  However, the discussion of societal roles would not be complete without mention of Cora’s bold plan to save her group. 

When the men of the group consent to die a violent death at the hands of the Maquas, Cora bravely steps out of the traditional woman’s societal role and suggests that the men leave the women behind and go seek help from Colonel Munro.  She reasons that the Indians would not kill the women.  Hawkeye acknowledges “…the reason in her words” (78), and later, when the others have left, Heyward admits that he can “…urge no words of idle encouragement” because Cora’s “…own fortitude and undisturbed reason, will teach [her] all that may become [her] own sex” (82).  He follows his admission of Cora’s wisdom with a request to “...dry the tears of that trembling weeper on [Cora’s] bosom” (82).  He is referring to Alice who is very much exposing her fear in the situation, which is expected of women in her time.  However, even Alice respects the bravery of Cora, because Alice is clinging to and seeking security from a woman, rather than from Major Heyward, who remained with the women to protect them.  I submit that through Cora’s bravery, she causes Alice, Major Hayward as well as herself to shift from their traditional societal roles.

Summary:  The issue of societal roles is a major theme throughout this novel.  It is seen in the attitudes of the different cultures toward one another as well as in the cross-cultural attitude of men about women.

Question:  Do you think Cooper was ahead of his time with regard to civil rights issues?  Why or why not?