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The Last of the Mohicans
by James Fenimore Cooper
“Mislike me not, for my complexion, the sad owed livery of the burnished sun.” When you first open Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper this is one of the first things you read. This quote from Shakespeare seems to state that the book will not show the racist tendencies of the time, but display the different races in equal light. While writing a historical fiction, being a completely anti-racist novel is not possible but Cooper seems to state with his head note that the color of skin does not matter. Despite the surface level image of a heroic narrative of Native Americans, Cooper betrays an underline racist agenda, much like the opinions of his own protagonists, which comes through in relationship tension and through the inversion of the native tribes, which played into the racist propaganda of the times increasing tension.
Last of the Mohicans is part of a series which tells the adventures of Hawkeye as the main protagonist. Hawkeye is a white male, who has in a sense, disowned his race and ancestors and lives in the wild with the Mohicans. Yet while Hawkeye seems to see his race in such a bad light to live out in the wild, he takes extreme pride in being a white male. “ “Iroquois, daren’t deny that I am genuine white,” the scout replied, surveying, with secret satisfaction, the faded color of his bony and sinewy hand” (23).* While his best friends are Native Americans, Hawkeye still acts as if he is above them, more evolved, because he is a white man. During racial arguments, Hawkeye always draws attention to his race, demonstrating that it is of such great importance to his personal identity and something of which others must be made aware of. Even though he has left the settled life of a white man he has not ultimately left behind the white man’s philosophy on Native Americans and those who are mixed race. “I am not a prejudiced man…” (23). This is always Hawkeye’s way to start a conversation. It is a method he uses to smooth over the conversation right before be goes into how he is genuine white and above them. No one ever comments on this or corrects Hawkeye of his ways showing that it is not something that he should be ashamed of or in any way wrong. “But neither the Mohicans, nor I, who am a white man without a cross, can explain the cry we heard” (59). I find it interesting that instead of saying we, Hawkeye uses the Mohicans and I. Again, “No Indian myself, but a man without a cross” (126). He makes a point to separate himself from them. He is a white man, not a Native American. Also he points out that not only is he white, but he is without a cross. Here I think it can be implied that it means that he is pure white, his bloodline has not been crossed with any other race. He uses this as a status of power, inserting himself carefully above the Native Americans and those of mixed race. Is this how Cooper then sees the hierarchy of people, that those with a pure white bloodline are above the rest? That they are better than everyone else? I believe in a way this is how Cooper feels, if not why would he write a whole series on Hawkeye, allowing him to spew his propaganda about how whites are above all the rest. It is then interesting to look at how Cooper displays characters that aren’t pure white.
Cora the heroin of the story is actually of mixed race decadency, her father is white, and her mother was from the Caribbean. “You scorn to mingle the blood of the Heywards with one so degraded-lovely and virtuous though she be?” (161). When Heyward goes to Colonel Munro to ask one of his daughters hand in marriage Munro is shocked and calls Heyward racist for picking his daughter with fair skin instead of his eldest darker skinned daughter. Heyward’s embarrassment and shock come through but he realizes in a way that is why he doesn’t desire Cora, because of how he was raised to look down on those of mixed race. Yet Cora is ultimately the center of desire for two Native Americans, Uncas and Magua. Near the end of the book I would have guessed that the novel would end happily with Cora and Uncas remaining together despite the fact that Uncas is a Native American and Cora of mixed decadency. Ultimately, we see the collapse of every character in the love triangle however, love is not lost! Alice and Heyward having both survived the final battle are deeply in love. Their relationship is allowed to flourish and grow as they both take their experiences back to civilization, leaving the wild, savage forest behind. Cooper in allowing the relationship of Alice and Heyward to thrive while that of Uncas and Cora is doomed reveals his thoughts on mixed race relationships. Mixed race relationships or even that between a civilized person and a savage person are doomed to fail. They can’t happen or he may even mean to say that they shouldn’t be allowed to occur. Cooper even goes as far to say that even in heaven the lovers will not be together:
Copper while trying to display the book as anti-racist by making Uncas and Cora, both who aren’t white, his heroes, he underneath the main plot creates this racism that mirrors that of the 1820s. “And I tell you that he who is born a Mingo will die a Mingo” (31). Only a couple of chapters into the book and Cooper already shows his true colors about how he feels about the Native Americans. There is no redemption for them, they cannot move up the totem pole of class structure, they are born low-class Native Americans and will die that way. Cooper actually inverts the native tribes in the book from that in history. During the French and Indian War, the Mohicans was actually paired with the French, not the British, and the Iroquois were paired with the British. In historical context the Mohicans were actually the villains and the Iroquois the heroes but that is not the case in the book. So why did Cooper have this role reversal? While it may seem like an innocent difference it actually has very racial implications. When Cooper’s book was published was the time of Native American removal. During this time, the tribe that the country was trying to move was mainly the Iroquois tribe. Here is where we see the propaganda that Cooper displayed. He makes the Iroquois in the book the villain, which in turn causes people to be less sympathetic of their cause and makes people more likely to support the Native American removal.
“Mislike me not for my complexion.” A bold statement that Cooper inserts on the front pages of the book yet tears apart as the reader dives deeper into the novel. The head note can be compared to Hawkeye stating, “I am not a prejudice man…” right before he says something racist. This is Cooper’s way to smooth over the racism that he displays in his novel. With Hawkeye as his main character in this series he can be thought of as having Cooper’s own thoughts on race, interracial relationships, and the Native American removal. Cooper allows the racism of the current time seep through as propaganda in the book and destroying any anti-racist plot that he tried to display in his novel.
This review is actually a paper I am writing for class and in the editing stages :)
UPDATE This was a paper for class and I got the grade back today and received a 3.8, one of the higher grades in the class!
Last of the Mohicans is part of a series which tells the adventures of Hawkeye as the main protagonist. Hawkeye is a white male, who has in a sense, disowned his race and ancestors and lives in the wild with the Mohicans. Yet while Hawkeye seems to see his race in such a bad light to live out in the wild, he takes extreme pride in being a white male. “ “Iroquois, daren’t deny that I am genuine white,” the scout replied, surveying, with secret satisfaction, the faded color of his bony and sinewy hand” (23).* While his best friends are Native Americans, Hawkeye still acts as if he is above them, more evolved, because he is a white man. During racial arguments, Hawkeye always draws attention to his race, demonstrating that it is of such great importance to his personal identity and something of which others must be made aware of. Even though he has left the settled life of a white man he has not ultimately left behind the white man’s philosophy on Native Americans and those who are mixed race. “I am not a prejudiced man…” (23). This is always Hawkeye’s way to start a conversation. It is a method he uses to smooth over the conversation right before be goes into how he is genuine white and above them. No one ever comments on this or corrects Hawkeye of his ways showing that it is not something that he should be ashamed of or in any way wrong. “But neither the Mohicans, nor I, who am a white man without a cross, can explain the cry we heard” (59). I find it interesting that instead of saying we, Hawkeye uses the Mohicans and I. Again, “No Indian myself, but a man without a cross” (126). He makes a point to separate himself from them. He is a white man, not a Native American. Also he points out that not only is he white, but he is without a cross. Here I think it can be implied that it means that he is pure white, his bloodline has not been crossed with any other race. He uses this as a status of power, inserting himself carefully above the Native Americans and those of mixed race. Is this how Cooper then sees the hierarchy of people, that those with a pure white bloodline are above the rest? That they are better than everyone else? I believe in a way this is how Cooper feels, if not why would he write a whole series on Hawkeye, allowing him to spew his propaganda about how whites are above all the rest. It is then interesting to look at how Cooper displays characters that aren’t pure white.
Cora the heroin of the story is actually of mixed race decadency, her father is white, and her mother was from the Caribbean. “You scorn to mingle the blood of the Heywards with one so degraded-lovely and virtuous though she be?” (161). When Heyward goes to Colonel Munro to ask one of his daughters hand in marriage Munro is shocked and calls Heyward racist for picking his daughter with fair skin instead of his eldest darker skinned daughter. Heyward’s embarrassment and shock come through but he realizes in a way that is why he doesn’t desire Cora, because of how he was raised to look down on those of mixed race. Yet Cora is ultimately the center of desire for two Native Americans, Uncas and Magua. Near the end of the book I would have guessed that the novel would end happily with Cora and Uncas remaining together despite the fact that Uncas is a Native American and Cora of mixed decadency. Ultimately, we see the collapse of every character in the love triangle however, love is not lost! Alice and Heyward having both survived the final battle are deeply in love. Their relationship is allowed to flourish and grow as they both take their experiences back to civilization, leaving the wild, savage forest behind. Cooper in allowing the relationship of Alice and Heyward to thrive while that of Uncas and Cora is doomed reveals his thoughts on mixed race relationships. Mixed race relationships or even that between a civilized person and a savage person are doomed to fail. They can’t happen or he may even mean to say that they shouldn’t be allowed to occur. Cooper even goes as far to say that even in heaven the lovers will not be together:
“Say to these kind and gentle females, that a heartbroken and failing man returns them his thanks. Tell him, that the Being we all worship, under different names, will be mindful of their charity; and that the time shall not be distant when we may assemble around his throne without distinction of sex, or rank, or color.” The scout listened to the tremulous voice… “To tell them this,” he said, “would be to tell them that the snows come not in winter, or the sun shines fiercest when the trees are stripped of their leaves.” (360-61)From Hawkeye’s point of view, even in heaven there is apartheid, which means there is no way that the lovers will ever be happy together in heaven or on earth. This again is where the racism of Cooper’s time comes seeping through the pages of the novel. Mixed race relationships were greatly frowned upon, even considered illegal in that time.
Copper while trying to display the book as anti-racist by making Uncas and Cora, both who aren’t white, his heroes, he underneath the main plot creates this racism that mirrors that of the 1820s. “And I tell you that he who is born a Mingo will die a Mingo” (31). Only a couple of chapters into the book and Cooper already shows his true colors about how he feels about the Native Americans. There is no redemption for them, they cannot move up the totem pole of class structure, they are born low-class Native Americans and will die that way. Cooper actually inverts the native tribes in the book from that in history. During the French and Indian War, the Mohicans was actually paired with the French, not the British, and the Iroquois were paired with the British. In historical context the Mohicans were actually the villains and the Iroquois the heroes but that is not the case in the book. So why did Cooper have this role reversal? While it may seem like an innocent difference it actually has very racial implications. When Cooper’s book was published was the time of Native American removal. During this time, the tribe that the country was trying to move was mainly the Iroquois tribe. Here is where we see the propaganda that Cooper displayed. He makes the Iroquois in the book the villain, which in turn causes people to be less sympathetic of their cause and makes people more likely to support the Native American removal.
“The pale-faces are the masters of the earth, and the time of the redmen has not yet come again. My day has been too long. In the morning I saw the sons of Unamis happy and strong; and yet, before the night has come, have I lived to see the last warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans” (363-64).In the end the Native Americans left decide that it is time to move on, it is the white man’s turn to thrive. This is the solution Cooper paints to the Native American removal and shows his support to the cause. They should want to leave. They no longer have a key influence to the making of the world. The Native American tribes should just move on and do what the white man says for they no longer have a place in history.
“Mislike me not for my complexion.” A bold statement that Cooper inserts on the front pages of the book yet tears apart as the reader dives deeper into the novel. The head note can be compared to Hawkeye stating, “I am not a prejudice man…” right before he says something racist. This is Cooper’s way to smooth over the racism that he displays in his novel. With Hawkeye as his main character in this series he can be thought of as having Cooper’s own thoughts on race, interracial relationships, and the Native American removal. Cooper allows the racism of the current time seep through as propaganda in the book and destroying any anti-racist plot that he tried to display in his novel.
This review is actually a paper I am writing for class and in the editing stages :)
UPDATE This was a paper for class and I got the grade back today and received a 3.8, one of the higher grades in the class!