A Feminist Reading of The Last of the Mohicans
While most often studied as a romance or adventure novel, the most dominant characteristic of The Last of the Mohicans is overlooked: phallicism. From this phallicism stems Cooper's patriarchal view of society. In the novel, men are symbolically set apart from women by the possession of weapons (the phallic symbol), and men are separated from one another by the size of their weapons. The more powerful the men are those bearing the larger, longer weapons. The main character, Hawk-eye, possesses "...a rifle of great length..." (32). Indeed, the rifle is so long, and so deadly in the scout's hands (he has "...a natural turn with a rifle..."), that he is given the name of 'La Longue Carabine' by his enemies. The scout symbolizes the greatest male power in the novel, and he is therefore the greatest protector of the women as well.
As the size of the weapons of the other characters decreases, so too does their generative power. Only slightly shorter than the scout in weapon length are Uncas and Chingachgook, who, while carrying knives, also brandish long hunting rifles. Uncas is the closest to the scout in length, for he carries his former rifle-hearing a shot in the woods, the scout recognizes the shot of Uncas, saying " '...I carried the gun myself until a better offered'" (230). Thus even though Uncas possesses a weapon of substantial length, he still comes up a bit short when compared with the scout. Next on the list of length is Duncan Heyward, who begins the novel carrying a mere pistol, grows in generative power as the story progresses-near the end of the novel he shows he can handle a hunting rifle almost as well as the scout. When the group first leaves ...
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...weapon...drawn to his shoulder," the scout preserves the honor of all by killing Magua with a blast from 'Kill-deer' (401).
In this novel overflowing with phallic imagery, it is clear that power lies in weapons, and size does matter. Without weapon, Gamut protects no one. Heyward only begins to wield power when he exchanges pistol for rifle. Although a valiant warrior, even Uncas dies after abandoning his rifle. Conversely, Chingachgook keeps his weapon, and remains alive. And Hawk-eye, the most powerful protector, is only vulnerable when he does not have 'Kill-deer' in his hands. In Cooper's patriarchal society, the man with the longest gun is the man who saves the day. When the big gun is gone, however, all of society is vulnerable.
Work Cited:
Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. NY: Signet Classic, 1962.
Atticus calls up his first witness, “Bob Ewell.” He asked questions like “Would you ever beat your daughter?” and “Where you on the night of the crime?” Bob Ewell answered that he never has beaten his daughter and was somewhere else at the time of the crime. After that, he asked Bob to write his name, and Atticus not...
Another unique aspect to this book is the constant change in point of view. This change in point of view emphasizes the disorder associated with war. At some points during the book, it is a first person point of view, and at other times it changes to an outside third person point of view. In the first chapter of the book, “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien writes, “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity (2).
The violent nature that the soldiers acquired during their tour in Vietnam is one of O'Brien's predominant themes in his novel. By consciously selecting very descriptive details that reveal the drastic change in manner within the men, O'Brien creates within the reader an understanding of the effects of war on its participants. One of the soldiers, "Norman Bowler, otherwise a very gentle person, carried a Thumb. . .The Thumb was dark brown, rubbery to touch. . . It had been cut from a VC corpse, a boy of fifteen or sixteen"(O'Brien 13). Bowler had been a very good-natured person in civilian life, yet war makes him into a very hard-mannered, emotionally devoid soldier, carrying about a severed finger as a trophy, proud of his kill. The transformation shown through Bowler is an excellent indicator of the psychological and emotional change that most of the soldiers undergo. To bring an innocent young man from sensitive to apathetic, from caring to hateful, requires a great force; the war provides this force. However, frequently are the changes more drastic. A soldier named "Ted Lavender adopted an orphaned puppy. . .Azar strapped it to a Claymore antipersonnel mine and squeezed the firing device"(O'Brien 39). Azar has become demented; to kill a puppy that someone else has adopted is horrible. However, the infliction of violence has become the norm of behavior for these men; the fleeting moment of compassion shown by one man is instantly erased by another, setting order back within the group. O'Brien here shows a hint of sensitivity among the men to set up a startling contrast between the past and the present for these men. The effect produced on the reader by this contrast is one of horror; therefore fulfilling O'Brien's purpose, to convince the reader of war's severely negative effects.
Margaret Atwood is famous for many things. She is a poet, novelist, story writer, essayist, and an environmental activist. Her books are usually bestsellers and have received high praises in the United States, Europe, and her native country, Canada. She has also received many Literary awards, like the Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the two Governor General’s Awards (“Margaret Atwood” Poetry). Through her books, she has written about what she sees in society towards women. She discusses how gender equality was corrupted in the past, but still is far from being reached, and women’s roles in society (“Spotty-handed”). Atwood also takes events in her life; like the Great Depression, Communism, and World War II; and applies it to her works. Margaret Atwood's works, including her novel The Handmaid's Tale, reflects women’s fight in equality, how society determines
While Wollstonecraft’s proposal seems remarkable in its naïveté, it is understandable, given the importance she places on correct relationships in Rights of Woman. Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792. It is thus apparent that the relationship she strove to have with Fuseli reflects the ideal relationship described in Rights of Woman, albeit, minus the physical phase. Since she considered respect necessary for true affection, people, including women, had to be worthy of respect. She states that “the first object of laudable ambition is to obtain a character as a human being, regardless of the distinction of sex,” and so was “anxious to render her sex more respectable members of society...” Regarding married women she asserts “her first wish should be to make herself respectable, and not to rely for all her happiness on a being subject to like infirmities with herself.”
A small city nestled in the state of Alabama, Maycomb has got its faults, just like any other place in the world, but one of its main faults or (pg.88) “Maycomb's usual disease,” as Atticus calls it in the book is prejudice. Jem and Scout learn a lot about prejudice when a black man named Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell and their father, Atticus, is called on to be his lawyer. They realize the hate that people have buried deep within their heart when they see a black man accused of doing something only because of his color. On pg.241, Scout starts understanding this and thinks, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” As the case continues, up until the death of Tom Robinson, Jem and Scout learn more and more about prejudice and how the hate that people have towards others causes them to take wrong actions. They also see how unfair it is that a white man can get treated better and think of himself better than a black man only because he was born white. This prejudice and the trial cause Jem and Scout to get in argum...
Of all the literary lenses, one would not think that feminism would be a prevalent topic in a war novel. In Tim O’Brien’s iconic book, The Things They Carried, the idea that women were just as important as men acts an important theme, however from a different perspective. Movies and epic war stories tell of the heroic actions of the World’s finest: bulky men with an appetite for battle. Yet, there always lied a backbone. Comfort, inspiration, ease, all things that women provided to soldiers during any war. Yet, sometimes things did not go as planned and rash actions were made. O’Brien’s masterful use of lenses creates an interesting novel, one that will stand the test of time, however, the aspects of the feminist lens provides much insight into the inner lying meanings of the book, mostly in the areas of characters, objects of importance, and the role of gender in the Vietnam War.
Dystopian novels are often used to array compelling political arguments and messages during periods of reform and influential eras. One notable, prize-winning dystopian novel is Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, which addresses the discrimination and feminist backlash faced by the women of the 1980’s. It is depicted through the story of Offred, a fertile sex slave, called a handmaid, whose sole purpose is to become pregnant and repopulate the disease and pollution stricken society of Gilead. Atwood’s persuasive novel has shown resolute influence throughout the years, displayed through Jennifer Hodson’s analytical thesis, “American Trends and American Fears: An Analysis of the Women's Movement and the Religious Right as Envisioned in Margaret
Racism is wrought within the whole story. For example, even though Calpernia is a female, Aunt Alexandra overlooks her good work because of her race (p. 129). Blacks, because they are considered inferior, are expected to do everything for whites. People are so biased it doesn’t matter how well a job a black person does they are still frowned upon. Furthermore, the jury declares Tom Robinson guilty even though the evidence is clearly in his favor (p.211). A human being has more color pigment in their skin so it is assumed they are guilty without question; truth is never a factor. It is easy to associate the mockingbird symbol to Tom Robinson, a harmless man who becomes a victim of racial prejudice. The Maycomb community are trying to make a fool of them selves by believing they are model citizens and good Christians, even though a small number amongst them know that they are wrong to persecute and hate due to color.
Thank you, and I promise that I will keep within my time period, in both senses of the phrase, of course (Laughter).
To find out whether or not Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin is an example of feminist rhetoric or not, one must simply define what is meant by the term feminist. This is difficult to do when one puts into consideration that this book was written over one hundred and forty years ago, and that feminism has gone through many different stages since that time. In order to do this correctly, one must first define feminism within the historical context of the 1850's, when Uncle Tom's Cabin was published instead of the definition of feminism in today’s times.
During this period, the attitude towards women gradually changed. For quite a long period of time, the important roles women played were ignored. In the society, they were viewed as the weaker gender. Women were easily related to the roles such as taking care of the family, childbearing and raising the children. It was considered as their natural job. As a result, morality was largely based along gender lines and responsibilities towards others instead of being focused on the culture of symbols, individual values and ideas. Materialism was largely used to construct gender aspects. Isecke (33) notes that materialism was largely relied on hence the overlooking of the important cultural system. As seen in my essay, the society contributed towards defying this norm through uplifting the state of woman, whereby she was viewed as an important figure in the society and who had equal rights as a man.
In Mary Wollstonecraft's “A Vindication of the Rights of Women”, Wollstonecraft constantly compares men and women. Her comparison ranges from their physical nature to their intelligence, and even down to the education that each sex received.
It seems that more often when a group of people or a nation encounters calamity, some great “act of God,” or even just change, collectively, we begin to seek answers from a higher power. We tend to either blame or seek solace in this higher power or we seek what it is we can change to please this higher power. Without realizing we begin to adjust laws, limit freedoms, and become despotic fascist, all in the name of God. This fear of conforming and reverting back to the “dark ages,” constraining women to “know their role or place” is what seems to have driven Margaret Atwood to write her satirical novel “The Handmaids Tale.”
The feeling of not being heard or not being allowed to do what you want is placed upon women in the 1930s. Harper Lee’s depiction of women, in her novel To Kill A Mockingbird, is they should be able to have an important voice in society, make changes they feel are important, and do certain actions without conforming to gender normalities.