Deerslayer
James Fenimore Cooper was born on September 15, 1789 in Burlington, New Jersey. He was the son of William and Elizabeth (Fenimore) Cooper, the twelfth of thirteen children (Long, p. 9). Cooper is known as one of the first great American novelists, in many ways because he was the first American writer to gain international followers of his writing. In addition, he was perhaps the first novelist to "demonstrate...that native materials could inspire significant imaginative writing" (p. 13). In addition his writing, specifically The Deerslayer, present a unique view of the Native American's experiences and situation. Many critics, for example, argue that The Deerslayer presents a moral opinion about what occurred in the lives of the American Indians. Marius Bewley has said that the book shows moral values throughout the context of it. He says that from the very beginning, this is symbolically made clear. The plot is a platform for the development of moral themes. The first contact the reader has with people in the book is in the passage in which the two hunters find each other. "The calls were in different tones, evidently proceeding from two men who had lost their way, and were searching in different directions for their path" (
As their conversation continues, Natty asks Hurry if the lake has a name. When Hurry tells him that it, in fact, does not, Natty thinks of this as positive. "I'm glad it has no name, or, at least, no paleface name; for their christenings always foretell waste and destruction" (p. 30). Here, we can see Natty's thoughts on the significance of whether an Indian or a white man has named the water. He comments that he would mind if a white man had named it. He believes that white men traditionally bring with them environmental damage - they would have ruined the natural beauty of it. The Indians, on the other hand, treated land with much more respect. Cooper makes it apparent that this is the way he feels in having Natty comment on the land as such. The story of The Deerslayer is simple. It is novel which tells the events which occur in the travels of a frontiersman. His name is Natty, and he is a young man at only twenty years old. Coming from New York of the eighteenth century, he is unprepared in many ways for what he encounters in the frontier. But he survives, escapes, and learns many things over the course of his adventures. Hurry, however, responds in a different way. He tells Natty that the Indian name for it is "Glimmerglass." Then he goes on to state that the white men decided to keep this name, at least unofficially. "I am glad they've been compelled to keep the redmen's name, for it would be too hard to rob them of both land and name!" (p. 30). Cooper, p. 5). Bewley states that this meeting is symbolic of losing one's way morally, and then attempting to find it again through different paths. Says Bewley, "when the two men emerge from the forest into the little clearing we are face to face with... two opposing moral visions of life which are embodied in these two woodsmen" (cited in Long, p. 121). The book The Deerslayer is a story in which James Fenimore Cooper presents a view of the Native Americans. His idea is that they were natural owners to the land, being there first. In addition, they loved, valued and respected the land in a way that was not common to most white men. Finally, he believed that they were human beings, entitled to live their lives freely just as anyone else. In showing the two sides of opinion on this issue - Hurry and Natty - Cooper sets the book up as a story of good and evil, right and wrong. His ideas, through the thoughts and actions of Hurry and Natty, are clearly presented. Critic Donald Davie, however, disagrees. His contention is that the plot is poorly developed. "It does not hang together; has no internal logic; one incident does not rise out of another" (cited in Long, p. 121). But according to Robert Long, Bewley has a better grasp of the meaning and presentation of ideas throughout the book. According to Long, although the plot development may not be "strictly linear," it is still certainly coherent and makes sense. In addition, Long feels that, as Bewley states, the novel is a way in and through which Cooper presents moral ideas about the plight of the Native Americans (p. 121). Within this setting, then, the contrasts between Natty and Hurry are brought across even clearer. But it is another character, Tom Hutter, who also plays an important role in Cooper's presentation of the Indians. Hutter's significance first involves where he lives. His house is located
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Approximate Word count = 2259
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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