LITR 5535 American Romanticism UHCL 2005 sample student research project

LITR 5535: American Romanticism

Sample Student Research Project 2006

Diane Palmer

November 20, 2006

Good Twin, Bad Twin: A Study of Uncas and Magua
as Symbolizing the Twins of the “Iroquois Creation Story”

Twins have been represented in every type of mythology from the Greek twins of Apollo and Artemis to the Egyptian sets of twins of Isis and Osiris, as well as, Nepthys and Set. Native American mythology is no different in that their mythology also includes twins. In the legend of creation according to the Iroquois, there are a particular set of twins born onto the earth that symbolize and exemplify the ideals of both good and evil among other aspects of life. Two of the main characters, Uncas of the Mohicans and Magua of the Huron in James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans, embody the twins of “The Iroquois Creation Story.” While many critics could argue that this theory is far fetched, one only has to look at America’s history and perform a close reading of Uncas and Magua’s characters and actions in The Last of the Mohicans to realize the similarities of the two characters to the beliefs and legends of twins in Iroquois mythology.

History shows us that not only was Uncas a living, breathing human at one time, but that he accomplished much in his lifetime. The factual Uncas of the past lived during the seventeenth century in colonial Connecticut and was a member of the Mohegan tribe. He worked as a peace keeper between his tribe and the newly arrived colonists trying to maintain peace and order between all people. It must be clearly understood that Cooper “made no attempt to pattern his character upon the historical Uncas…Cooper merely chose for his “Mohican” the name of the best known of the Mohegans, conflating the history of the two tribes” (Oberg 3). If Cooper had researched the past enough to know of the famous Uncas of America’s history, he must also have come across the mythology behind the creation story. The earliest recording of the creation story comes from the Hurons, Magua’s tribe, in 1636 by the French missionary Jean de Brebeuf and is closely related to that of the Iroquois (Wonderley 57). After carefully studying the various creation myths, Anthony Wonderley notes that “This diachronic study suggests, therefore, that the Iroquois tale of beginnings was pretty stable across a large area for about 150 years…the myth was transformed virtually overnight around 1820” (xxiv). Many would wonder how the change of the myth would affect Cooper’s view in The Last of the Mohicans, but it must be remembered that Cooper had this book published in 1826 and had been writing the Leatherstocking series since 1823. While it is not certain, there is a great possibility that Cooper was aware of the changes and would have used perhaps a combination of the original myth and the changes that occurred.

One of the most important focuses in the Iroquois creation myth is the idea that the good twin is one with nature. “The good mind determines to prosecute his designs, and therefore commences the work of creation,” and he then creates the sun, moon, stars, rivers, lakes, and most importantly to nature--man (Iroquois 20). The good twin not only creates nature but becomes a part of it, and this, too, can be said of Uncas. When the reader is first introduced to Uncas, he moves with “a noiseless step, and seated himself on the bank of the rapid stream” (Cooper 33). There is no awkwardness and no noise because Uncas, as the good twin, has the ability to move with nature and blend into it. One critic remarks “like the virgin land that he describes as unmolested before the white man, so Cooper envisions the Indian as equally pure” (Last). There is a deity like quality created in Uncas that is not seen in the other characters including Hawkeye and Chingachgook.

The good twin is often connected with having the responsibility for watching over and providing for his people that he created. He is seen as “a benevolent deity responsible for crops and game” much as Uncas is in The Last of the Mohicans (Wonderley xxiii). It is Uncas’ job throughout to provide for the group due to his “oneness” with nature because “The story of Uncas begins with the land. Land rested at the heart of all things” (Oberg 15). Not only does he swiftly kill deer for dinner, but Uncas even goes against Native American custom and “acted as attendant to the females, performing all the little offices within his power, with a mixture of dignity and anxious grace” (Cooper 56). This description is not meant to cut down Uncas’ masculinity, but further reinforces the idea that he is the good twin who is on the earth to help aid and provide for all mankind that the he created.

On the opposing side of the creation myth, there is the bad twin who opposes not only nature but man too. In several versions of the creation myth, it is the evil twin who is responsible for the death of their own mother. Wonderley explains “the other [bad twin] resolved to take the shorter route, by breaking through the walls of his prison, in effecting which he consequently destroyed his mother, thus giving the first evidence of his malignant disposition” (64-65). There is no remorse to the evil twin’s actions, and he further proves his malignity by then trying to take over as ruler of man. When the group of Uncas and his friends are about to be in battle with the Hurons led by Magua in the cave, Duncan is hopeful that Magua will give them mercy and leave them be. It is Hawkeye that revels “’You know not the nature of Magua, if you think he is so easily beaten back, without a scalp’” (Cooper 68). Magua is not one to believe in benevolence as the good twin does but in violence as a means to an end just as the bad twin kills to further his means.

Not only are the actions of Uncas and Magua a clear representation of the twins of the creation story, but their appearance also lends credence to their depiction. Once the group of Cora, Duncan, Alice, David Gamut, Chingachgook, and Hawkeye are in the cave behind the water fall, the group sees Uncas and notices “the bold outline of his high, haughty features, pure in their native red; or to the dignified elevation of his receding forehead, together with all the finest proportions of a noble head” ( Cooper 52-53). It is the use of “dignified” and “noble” that elevate and define the status of Uncas. The passage is the description of what Cora, Duncan, and Alice see, and while they would be considered the superiors in the situation because they are Caucasian, Cooper uses words of nobleness and aristocracy in contrast with “native red” to further increase the goodness of Uncas. Uncas’ description shows any ideal of one in tune with nature, one’s surroundings, and the people included in said surroundings.

The opposite can be said of the description of Magua. One critic says it best when Magua and his men are described as “demonized; they exhibit subhuman tendancies such as unnatural reveling in violence” (Last). The key word in the sentence is “demonized.” It is as if Magua becomes the demonic deity of the evil twin. When the reader first meets Magua, he is guiding Duncan and the girls to the girls’ father. In describing his face, Cooper writes

The colours of the war-paint had blended in dark confusion about his fierce countenance, and rendered his swarthy lineaments still more savage and repulsive, than if art had attempted the effect, which had been thus produced by chance. (18)

There is an other-worldly quality about Magua that is represented in this description of him. He is not merely another Indian savage covered in war paint but a repulsive being that cannot even be conveyed if an artist had attempted it. He is the pure essence of evil that is ineffable.

While there are many versions of the creation story, it is easy to notice that the differences are usually small and insignificant, while the important factors remain the same. This insignificance in detail lets the reader realize that while Magua and Uncas are not even fraternal twins, they are of the same ethnicity and retain the important features with the twins of the creation. For example, according to the Norton Anthology of American Literature, the good twin in one of the Iroquois versions is named Enigorio (i.e. the good mind), while the bad twin is named Enigonhahetgea (i.e. the bad mind) (20). In accordance with Wonderley’s findings of the Iroquois version, the good twin is named Tan-lon-ghy-au-wan-goon meaning unbounded goodness and benevolence, while the bad twin was named Than-wisk-a-law meaning the greatest degree of malignity and cruelty (65). There is little consistency among the name of the twins, but the meanings of the names are not far off. All the myths give one twin virtue and goodness, while the second twin is named for evil and misconduct.

Many may argue that even though names may change, there is still the fact that the two men are not in fact twins or even brothers of the same tribe. This idea then becomes an issue of past beliefs and the idea of racial brotherhood. Sadly, it is Magua who points us in the right direction. When at the meeting with the Delawares over the fate of Cora and Uncas, it is Magua that exclaims “Why should they brighten their tomahawks, and sharpen their knives against each other! Are not the pale-faces thicker than the swallows in the season of flowers?” (288-289). One critic even argues that due to the inner destruction of the Indian tribes and the final death of Uncas, the white men are able to take over in The Last of the Mohicans (Ringe). While the main focus is that they should ban together to fight the white men, the message is not lost that while they may all be from separate tribes, they are still of one people. Magua and Uncas may come from tribes of different names, but they are brothers racially according to mankind.

One of the most telling scenes that depicts the Iroquois creation myth is the final battle and death scene between Uncas and Magua. In the Iroquois creation story, the evil twin takes the good twin out hunting and inquires about the good twin’s fears. Both reveal an item that they are afraid of, but the evil twin does not realize he is being deceived by his twin. The good twin claims he has an aversion to “beech boughs and bulrushes,” while the evil twin admits he has an aversion to “flintstones and buckhorns” (Wonderley 67). The good twin then goes out one day with the evil twin and is challenged by the evil one. Once the challenge begins, the evil twin attempts to beat the good twin with boughs and bulrushes, while “the good mind gained the victory by using the horns…which he succeeded in deceiving his brother and he crushed him in the earth” (Iroquois 21). The irony is that in The Last of the Mohicans, the Hurons call Uncas “Le Cerf Agile” which means “bounding elk,” and Uncas is indorectly responsible for Magua’s death. Perhaps this little piece of irony is Cooper’s attempt to add subtle humor to the tragic story.

The argument that most critics would make against the final death scene between Uncas and Magua is that Magua kills Uncas first. It is true that Uncas dies, but it is not in vain. Just as in the Iroquois myth when “the good mind repaired to the battle ground…and retires from the earth,” Uncas does rid Magua from the earth, but must himself return to the earth to help mankind. Also note, Uncas is the reason for the downfall of Magua, even if Magua does not physically die by Uncas’ hands. Before Uncas perishes, he “arose from the blow, as the wounded panther turns upon his foe, and struck the murderer of Cora to his feet” (Cooper 337). The defense of Cora is also a characteristic of the Iroquois myth, but will be explained in a later paragraph.

In the Iroquois myth, the evil twin is crushed back into the earth by the good twin but not before making a threat to human kind. In Cooper’s novel, Magua returns to the earth in death by “cutting the air with its head downwards, for a fleeting instant…in its rapid flight to destruction” (Cooper 338). By falling to his death, he is killed by nature that was created and was one with the good twin or the character of Uncas. Regardless of whether Magua dies directly or indirectly by the hands of Uncas, it is because of Uncas that Magua dies. Next, turn to the final words from both the evil twin and Magua.Magua’s dying words exclaim “’The pale-faces are dogs! The Delawares women! Magua leaves them on the rocks, for the crows!’” (Cooper 338). The threat uttered by Magua reflects the final words of the evil twin when he utters “he would have equal power over the souls of mankind after death” (Iroquois 21). He threatens that he will destroy them and curses the people. It is then little wonder why Uncas must fight Magua as “a self-purging [act], cleansing in the process not only the Munros and the Heywards but also, by extension, us the civilized moderns” and must also die and retire from the earth to combat the evil twin who then resides in the depths of the earth.

A final, integral figure from the Iroquois creation myth represented in The Last of the Mohicans is that of Cora. Cora can arguably be seen as representing two distinct parts of the creation story. The first would be as the mother figure in the story. The mother figure becomes pregnant and “was in a painful condition during the time of their [the twins] disputes, and the infants entered the world by compulsion, and their parent expired” (Iroquois 19). What makes the death of the mother interesting is the way in which each twin chooses to leave her body. In Wonderley’s discoveries, he notes “the other [evil twin] resolved to take the shortest route, by breaking through the walls of his prison, in effecting which he consequently destroyed his mother, thus giving the first evidence of his malignant disposition” (64-65). Norton’s version clarifies and states that the evil twin tried to “pass out under the side of the parent’s arm” (19). It is the good twin that tries to stop the evil twin from performing such a travesty against their mother, but no matter the version, the responsible party for the mother’s death is the evil twin.

Such is the case with Cora’s death in The Last of the Mohicans. Magua has captured Cora and has taken her into a cave on the Huron land. Magua forces Cora to choose between him and death. Cora chooses death over a life with Magua. Unlike the evil twin, Magua does show remorse for his actions and cannot bring himself to kill her. Uncas “appeared leaping frantically, from a fearful height, upon the ledge” to protect Cora as does the good twin to protect their mother (Cooper 337). Sadly, while Magua could not kill Cora, one of his men “profiting by the chance, sheathed his own knife in the bosom of Cora” (Cooper 337). It is the evil that Magua has bred into his men that kills Cora, and it is Uncas representing the good twin that tries to save her with disastrous results for all parties.

The argument that most critics would argue is that Cora is obviously not Magua or Uncas’ mother, and she is of the Caucasian race not the Native American. To address the mother issue, a reader must only read the actions of Cora when in the presence of her sister Alice. While she may not be the mother of Uncas and Magua, Cora is definitely a mother archetype. After the massacre at Fort William-Henry, the fainted Alice is captured by Magua. Cora must decide whether to stay behind and seek help or to voluntarily go with Magua to stay with her sister. It is Magua that witnessed Cora taking “her seat, and held forth her arms for her sister, with an air of entreaty and love, that even the Huron could not deny” (Cooper178). In almost every scene that Cora is with Alice, she is willing to sacrifice all she has including her life to save her sister. It is this motherly nature that puts Cora in the position to represent the fallen mother from the creation story of the Iroquois.

Now, to address the race issue, the reader must look at the relationship of Cora with Uncas. One critic claims, Cora and her “admiration for ‘the easy motions of the savage’ reveals a sensuous miscibility that will lead to her relationship with Uncas and the gradual Indianization that relationship implies” (Haberly). Because of the love shared between Cora and Uncas, the idea of Cora being white slowly starts to fade as we watch her adapt to nature and her surroundings as if she really were becoming Indianized. Even in the final chapter, we discover that even those amongst them have begun to accept her as such. For her funeral

Six Delaware girls…stood apart, and only gave proofs of their existence, as they occasionally strewed scented herbs and forest flowers on a litter of fragrant plants, that, under a pall of Indian robes, supported all that now remained of the ardent, high souled, and generous Cora. (Cooper 340)

Cora is but a white woman but is given the courtesy of an Indian-like burial. While her funeral is not as elaborate as Uncas’, it is still honored by the surrounding Indian tribes. She truly has become Indianized by the end of the book.

The second part of the creation myth that Cora represents is the fight between the good twin and the evil twin over control of mankind. In one version, the twins are constantly fighting over the hunting and gathering of food. One critic contends that the contest over food is not about the food, but the argument signifies the brother’s fight over mankind and who and has control over human life (Wonderley 71). In The Last of the Mohicans, the coveted object is not mankind but Cora. Many times, Magua captures Cora, and many times, he tries to force her to marry him. The reason she declines is not because he is Native American but because she loves Uncas. The real battle for Cora is in the final scenes of the book when Magua is taking her to the Huron cave, and Uncas “In this manner, rocks, precipices, and difficulties, were surmounted, in an incredibly short space, that at another time, and under other circumstances, would have been deemed almost insuperable” (336). Uncas and Magua fight over Cora and who owns her much like the twins fight over mankind and who is in control of their souls. Just as the good twin wins, so Uncas wins Cora in death.

Once it is established that Cooper most likely knew of the Iroquois’ creation myth involving the good and evil twin, the many parallels between the myth and the characters of Uncas and Magua become evident. Cooper portrays Magua as the epitome of evil and malice and counter-balances this view with portraying Uncas as the epitome of all that is good and righteous. While many would boil the story down to good versus evil, it is Cooper’s choice of words and detailed descriptions that provide the reader with a deeper understanding of the many-layered-never-ending battle between what is good and what is evil.

Work Cited

Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. New York: Penguin Books, 1986.

Haberly, David T. "Women and Indians: The Last of the Mohicans and the Captivity Tradition." American Quarterly 28, no. 4. Autumn 1976: 431-44. Literature Resource Center. Thomas Gale. Alfred R. Neumann Lib., Houston, TX. 8 Oct. 2007 <http://www. galenet.gale.com>.

"Last of the Mohicans." American Studies at the University of Virginia. 06 Sept 2004. University of Virginia. 11 Nov 2006 <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/HNS/Indians/last.html>.

Oberg, Michael Leroy. Uncas: First of the Mohegans. Ithaca: Cornell U.P., 2003.

Rath, Sura P.. "Romanticizing the Tribe: Stereotypes in Literary Portraits of Tribal

Cultures." Diogenes 1989: 61-77. Literature Resource Center. Thomas Gale. Alfred R. Neumann Lib., Houston, TX. 8 Oct. 2007 <http://www. galenet.gale.com>.

Ringe, Donald A. "James Fenimore Cooper." Twayne's United States Authors 1999. Literature Resource Center. Thomas Gale. Alfred R. Neumann Lib., Houston, TX. 8 Oct. 2007 <http://www. galenet.gale.com>.

"The Iroquois Creation Story. " The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter 6th ed. 2003.

Wonderley, Anthony. Oneida Iroquois Folklore, Myth, and History. 1st. Syracuse:

Syracuse U.P., 2004.