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In Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans, the Native American characters, particularly those allied with a tribe that opposed the British Settlers were ruthlessly described as savages and constantly characterized by their foolish and violent acts without accounting for the role of retribution against the devastation of white colonization. However, Cooper also offers these characters brief moments of redemption through the thread of music which brought true feeling and retribution to these characters. The initial singer is a white man, David Gamut, who is seen to be foolish for singing, but who then protects Alice and Cora by singing them a lullaby during a massacre. While the scenario is unlikely it offers value to the godly, healing power of music in Cooper’s work.
This positive characterization is attributed to Native Americans in various scenes throughout the book. For example, Cooper writes, “It is impossible to describe the music of their language, while thus engaged in laughter and endearments in such a way as to render it intelligible to those whose ears have never listened to its melody” (200). Despite his constantly racist descriptions of Native Americans, he still acknowledges the indescribable beauty and musicality of their language. He still can not totally withhold their humanness from them.
3 thoughts on “The Musical Humanization or the Stereotyped”
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Aubrey, I really like your interpretation of the healing power of music. A scene that I think is important to add to this analysis is the respective funerals of Uncas and Cora, where music is featured heavily. While music certainly seems to have a healing power for the Delawares in this time of grief, I also think Cooper is once again using the lack of refinement in the Delaware melodies to further his construction of white enlightenment. This becomes clear through the concern expressed by Gamut that Cora receive a proper Christian burial.
I really like the last line of your post where you say, “Despite his constantly racist descriptions of Native Americans, he still acknowledges the indescribable beauty and musicality of their language. He still can not totally withhold their humanness from them.” I think that Cooper had tons of contradictions in his writing and I think looking at the ways that he has moments of giving Indigenous people humanness and respect are interesting in a novel that is extremely racist. Throughout the novel he repeatedly used the word “savage” in regards to Indigenous people and at points also seemed to treat certain characters in dog like manners, which makes quotes like the one you posted about really surprising to read given the way the rest of the novel is written.
Cooper’s motif of music also stood out to me throughout the novel, and I am curious about the overlap of Cooper describing the indigenous language with language like “music” and “melody” and the allusions to religion through Gamut’s singing. Throughout the novel, I think that Cooper uses religion as a way to separate the Native Americans and the white people on their journey. I found Gamut’s singing and his psalm book as a reference to God’s presence throughout their journey, and by labelling the Native American language as “music”, I wonder if Cooper meant to argue that the Native American communities also have a relationship with God although it may be “intelligible” to the ears of the white characters.