Cooper’s very self-conscious, bordering on the pretentious writing style strikes me as particularly funny because he so idealizes the woodsy frontiersman he writes about. To Hawk-eye, the hyper-masculine hero with whom Cooper is so enamored, a writer like Cooper would probably seem as laughable as David Gamut seems to the reader. And the way Cooper subtly pokes fun of Gamut from the start makes it clear Gamut is clearly supposed to be laughed at: “During this eulogium on the rare production of his native poets, the stranger had drawn the book from his pocket, and fitting a pair of iron-rimmed spectacles to his nose, and opened the volume with such care and veneration suited to its sacred purposes.” (31) The tone introducing this character and his beloved book was particularly interesting to me after I learned in class that Gamut’s book was the first book published on The narrator’s derision towards Gamut and his book of psalms seems like shameless self-promotion on Cooper’s part; The Last of the Mohicans, he seems to say, is a book with all the sophistication of Europe (the Shakespeare quotes, the incorporation of the French language) and all the adventure and excitement of the New World.
Cooper’s preoccupation with pioneer heroism reminds me of a more modern “masculine” fixation I will absolutely never understand the appeal of -- Batman. I don’t doubt that plenty of women enjoy the Batman movies, I’m sure there’s merit to them. That being said, many guys get this starry-eyed look on their faces when they talk about these movies, which to me seem like unnecessarily lengthy, dark, dull, fantasies. Hawk-eye seems like a nineteenth century superhero, Cooper seems like the fan saying “ISN’T THIS GREAT?!”, and I feel the way I do about action movies because my eyes glaze over during the fight scenes and I don’t see why everyone has to be so self-congratulatory about all the people they kill.
When I first read this post, I immediately thought of the scene in which Hawk-eye, Uncas, and Chingachgook ambush the Hurons. This happens just as Heyward combats the Huron who attacked Alice. There is suddenly a gun shot and the Huron drops down dead.
ReplyDeleteAt first, the Hurons are surprised at this sudden murder but, “as they regarded the fatal accuracy of an aim, which had dared to immolate an enemy, at so much hazard to a friend, the name of ‘la Longue Carabine’ burst simultaneously from every lip” (127).
The Hurons give Hawk-eye this nickname to legitimize him as a warrior, or even as a hero. Like many other heroes, there is this large respect as well as fear for him because of his skill and bravery.