Cîndea Andreea Claudia

American Studies M.A.

Rădăcini europene ale literaturii americane

The frontier literature and The Last of the Mohicans

The frontier literature was one of the main effects provided by the romantics in American
literature due to the fact that it represented the embodiment of the romantics’ ideals. The
exploration, the wide possibility of choice and the escapism were only few ideas preached by the
romantic writers. James Fenimore Cooper is known to be iconic for the period because of its
writings as The Prairie or The Last of the Mohicans. Through his novels, Cooper emphasized the
frontier as part of the American identity so taking the idea further on, the way in which American
romantism was demonstrated to be different from the British romantism precisely because of the
specific situation on the American territory. An eloquent example of that is The Last of the
Mohicans. As we are going to take a in-depth look at the story, the author’s perspective about the
native americans will be revealed. This is going to be emphasize through the comparison between
Hawkeye and Magua’s characters.

It is known that the novel could be seen as a history of the natives. Hawkeye and his friends,
Chingachgook and Uncas represent the Mohicans, even though Hawkeye is not a pure native. The
ambivalence of Hawkeye’s character embodies the nineteenth-century America’s perspective
about race and nature. Firstly, Hawkeye cherishes individuality and makes judgments without
regard to race. He cherishes the friendship with Chingachgook and Uncas however he demonstrates
an almost obsessive investment in his white origin (Cooper, 2005:31). Also, while Hawkeye
supports interracial friendship between men as we mentioned before, he objects to interracial sexual
desire between men and women. Even if Hawkeye becomes a father figure for Uncas, this one is
not influenced by Hawkeye’s perspective about interracial love, and fell in love with Cora, Munro’s
daughter.

In terms of leadership, Hawkeye’s chief strength is adaptability. He adapts to the difficulties

of the frontier and bridges the divide between white and Indian cultures (50). A hybrid, Hawkeye
identifies himself by his white race and his Indian social world, in which his closest friends are the
Mohicans, Chingachgook and Uncas.
Cîndea Andreea Claudia
American Studies M.A.
Rădăcini europene ale literaturii americane

On the other edge, we have Magua. He is an Indian of an another tribe, the Huron tribe. It
is built as the villan in the novel due to his betrayal (46). He plays the crafty villain to Hawkeye’s
rugged hero. Because of his exile by Colonel Munro, Magua seeks revenge (79-81). He does not
want to do physical harm to Munro but wants to bruise the colonel’s psyche. Magua has a keen
understanding of whites’ prejudices, and he knows that threatening to marry the colonel’s daughter
will terrify him. Magua’s threat to marry a white woman symbolize white men’s fears of interracial
marriage. When Magua kidnaps Cora, the threat of physical violence or rape hangs in the air,
although no one ever speaks of it. Whereas the interracial attraction between Uncas and Cora strikes
us as sweet and promising for happier race relations in the future, the violent unwanted advances
of Magua to Cora show an exaggerated fulfillment of white men’s fears. However, while anger
originally motivates Magua, affection eventually characterizes his feelings for Cora. He refuses to
harm her, even when in one instance his actions put himself in danger. Magua’s psychology
becomes slightly more complicated by the end of the novel, when sympathy tempers his evil.

Indians are portrayed in the novel as inherently savage with an irresistible urge to kill and
scalp their enemies. Hawkeye explains his decision to spare the lives of Magua and the Huron
conjurer as a product of his white blood. Hawkeye, then, represents a white man who has stripped
away useless or inessential aspects of white civilization, such as antiquated notions of honor and
formal education, in order to survive in the wilderness. He retains a supposedly essential
"whiteness" in his nature that cannot be altered.

Those two characters are built in contrast with the purpose to emphasize the conflicts
between indian tribes. The choice of one’s side, british or French, was a constant struggle during
those times for the tribes. But they are not opposite at all. In fact, we can affirm that the two of
them complete each other. It is a fact that Magua is the negative character in the story. But in what
context? He assumed to be the victim of the british troops. From that point of view Magua
illustrates the injustices produced by the colonists (Paine, 1928).

The narrator’s point of view is consistently objective throughout the story. We are typically
given descriptions of the action without knowing what happens in the character's mind. But, the
Cîndea Andreea Claudia
American Studies M.A.
Rădăcini europene ale literaturii americane
objectivity should not be understood in the strict sense of the word. When the narrator presents the
innate savagery of Native Americans as absolute fact, we should question that narration of events.

From Cooper's perspective, your racial nature determines how you act, what you believe,
and whom you fall in love with. You can take on the attributes of another race as it was emphasized
through Hawkeye’s character. But, in the end, there is an irreducible element within you that will
resist all attempts at cultural conversion. He successfully adapts to Native American ways in order
to survive in the wilderness. With Hawkeye, Cooper shows his readers that it is possible to learn
from another culture without compromising your origins.

Bibliography

Cooper, J. F., 2005. The Last of the Mohicans. San Diego: ICON Group.
Paine, G., 1928. The Frontier in American Literature in Sewanne Review, 34(2), p. 236.