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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page essay that examines the role of Duncan Heyward in James Fenimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans. The character of the Major Duncan Heyward, new to the States and very English, provides Cooper with a means of making these points. Through Heyward, Cooper illustrates that many of the values of Europe do not transfer well to the New World. While Heyward may have been suited to military service as practiced in Europe, in the New World, he is inept, a danger to himself and others. It is through Heyward that Cooper is able to present his argument that the US is not Europe--this is a whole new ballgame and the rules have changed. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khheymoh.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
States. The character of the Major Duncan Heyward, new to the States and very English, provides Cooper with a means of making these points. Through Heyward, Cooper illustrates that many
of the values of Europe do not transfer well to the New World. While Heyward may have been suited to military service as practiced in Europe, in the New World
he is inept, a danger to himself and others. It is through Heyward that Cooper is able to present his argument that the US is not Europe--this is a whole
new ballgame and the rules have changed. Cooper makes this point immediately, beginning his novel with a comment concerning the nature of war in North America. "It was a
feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North America, that the toils and dangers of the wilderness were to be encountered before the adverse hosts could meet" (p. 1). In
other words, battle in the New World is vastly different from the flat battlefields of Europe. English Major Duncan Heyward is a product of Europe. His bungling and ineptitude provide
a perfect backdrop against which Hawkeyes ingenuity and capability can shine. As this suggests, Cooper defines his characters, at least in part, by their relationship with nature. Hawkeye is
a natural hero because of his knowledge of and respect for the landscape. Heyward, on the other hand, establishes his ineptitude by misunderstanding the natural world. His unfamiliarity with the
environment thwarts his efforts at every turn. According to one critic, Heyward is shown throughout the novel to be "foolish, hypocritical, boastful (yet passive), and almost criminally inept."1 Heywards actions
and suggestions are almost always disastrous. Throughout the narrative, he is in constant need of being rescued, treated with ridicule, or "duped by the more admirable and stronger characters of
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