Joshua Sierra
December 15, 2009
Professor Cordell
Lit-201.001

The Last of The Mohicans is a novel that touches heavily on the topic of race and the difficulty people might face when attempting to overcome racial buriers. Such characters like Hawkeye and Chingachgook are proof of this. Hawkeye is a white man that prefers to live and follow the code of the Indians, rather than that of the white settlers. It is as if he is playing both sides of the field which works to his advantage and also lets the reader see how open minded Hawkeye seems to be. He is best friends with Chingachgook, the chief of the Mohicans. This alone shows that Hawkeye has a certain kind of appreciation for individuality and clearly shows that he is able to make sensible decisions without regard to race. He can see Chingachgook for who he really is and does not let silly things like race or cultural background come between their friendship. One interesting quote was in Chapter III when Hawkeye says,

“There is reason in an Indian, though nature has made him with a red skin! I am no scholar, and I care not who knows it; but judging from what I have seen, at deer chases and squirrel hunts, of the sparks below, I should think a rifle in the hands of their grandfathers was not so dangerous as a hickory bow and a good flint-head might be, if drawn with Indian judgment, and sent by an Indian eye.” (Baym 1003)

This quote comes from a debate that Chingachgook was having with Hawkeye. I found this quote to be a little intriguing because it shows how Hawkeye himself feels towards the Native Americans. In the quote he states that Indians can reason, although nature has made them with “red skin”. He says “red skin” which can be substituted to mean the lack of ineptness or lack of intelligence. It seems that although Hawkeye prefers the loyalty of the Indians over the white men, he