Re-Defining the American

The sweet summer air of the colonial frontier depicted by James Fenimore Cooper in his novel The Last of the Mohicans is refreshingly delightful and is filled with rich, thoughtful characters. Hawk-eye and Chingachgook do not follow traditional character development pertaining to hunters and Native Americans of other early American literature attempting to capture the wilds of the great frontier. In fact, J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur's "Letters from an American Farmer", depict the American quite differently. Crevecoeur, all too willingly, applied negative attributes to the American living a life in the wild frontier or the Native American. In severe contrast, Cooper brilliantly demonstrates a genuine relationship between the frontiersman, Hawk-eye, and the Mohican chief, Chingachgook. Their dialogue, candid and lively, adds to the strength, warmth, and mutual respect overflowing in this "unlikely" friendship.

Neither of these men could be described as

"a mongrel breed, half-civilized, half-savage;"

a ridiculous depiction concocted by Crevecoeur about 50 years earlier (Crevecoeur 330). Chapter III of The Last of the Mohicans gives the reader the opportunity to observe the interracial friendship and the beauty and freedom of living in the wilderness comingled with boundless opportunities to learn from each other and the world around us.

There are two specific scenes where we see an exchange. The first, while waiting for the return of Uncas, Chingachgook's son, Hawk-eye and Chingachgook engage in a conversation about the history of the meeting of their fathers. After some insistence from Hawk-eye, Chingachgook begins an oration with:

"Listen, Hawk-eye, and your ears shall drink no lies,"

an assurance that what he offers is completely true (Cooper 532). In this monologue, Chingachgook shares an observation about the movement of water in rivers and the opposing movement of the water from the sea. In response, Hawk-eye offers an explanation that seems reasonable to the reader, yet it still remains a mystery to Chingachgook.

Hawk-eye continues his explanation and suggests to his friend:

"every thing depends on what scale you look at things" (Cooper 533).

Here, Hawk-eye points out that perspective is important to understanding this mystery, revealing that there isn't a mystery at all.

Later, in this chapter, Uncas arrives offering more exchanges between the characters. While the three are sitting and talking, Hawk-eye sees a deer and readys himself to fire upon it. Through the intervention of Uncas, Hawk-eye realizes that firing his weapon would also reveal their presence to anyone else who may be in the woods. In these two scenes, we see an exchange of instruction. Each party benefits from this exchange. Each acknowledges the merits and wisdom of the other.

Crevecoeur's depiction of the frontiersman or the hunter is completely different from Cooper's revealing that perspective is vital to understanding. The observation of nature without scientific knowledge does not mean that Chingachgook was void of scientific literacy. The fact that Hawk-eye was a friend to a "red-skin" and wore the skins of animals did not mean that he was lacking civility. Where Crevecoeur chose to vilify the effects of living on the land and within nature, Cooper chose this same backdrop to demonstrate its unifying effects and the strength of friendship between races and cultures.

We should ask ourselves if we have a unifying or dividing perspective of what we observe, and if we are lacking key information that could possibly change our view. Can we, at the end of the day, speak candidly and lively with one another to better understand, opening our eyes to a multitude of possibilities? Cooper's novel suggests that we can and that differences in culture, race, education, and religion should make no difference. We just need to change our "scale" to look at things properly.

References:

Levine, Robert S., et al. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 1820-1865. 9th ed., vol. 12, W.W. Norton & Company, 2017.