Throughout Hope
Leslie, I found somewhat confusing the tone in which the author described
the major Native American characters mentioned throughout the novel. Magawisca was certainly, in the
narrator’s mind, the epitome of a heroine, and she was described as having a
“noble mind” (p. 345) and her countenance was described as being “without
guilt, nor fearfulness, nor submission” (p.292). The heartbreaking parting scene between Magawisca and Hope
and Everell embodied the characters’ strong feelings toward Magawisca,
especially since she had saved Everell’s life. However, some of the other Native American characters
(namely Mononotto and Nelema) are dealt with in a slightly more confusing
manner.
In
the beginning of the novel, Mononotto is described as being a friend to the
English, but to many of his people, they believe that this means he has a
“woman’s heart” and is seen to be a negative quality. After Mononotto turns to vengeance and violence, however, he
is viewed by his people as weak and somewhat insane and is appeased in the
tribes he communicates with but his advice is never followed.
Nelema
faces the opposite transition. In
the first volume of the novel, she is seen as somewhat of a witch woman who
bears the terrible news of the Fletcher family’s impending doom (p. 38). From the tone of the author in
describing her, I felt that Nelema did not favor the English as a whole, but
accepted the Fletchers because of their kindness to her. This raised the question to me about
Native American values. It seems that throughout the novel, the only Native
Americans that deal kindly with the English are ones that receive some sort of
payment from the English, whether that be in kindness or gold coins. Does the
author consider Native Americans to be an intelligent race capable of emotion and
compassion toward races who haven’t
earned their kindness in return? Or does she view them as a race that simply
believes in a “tit for tat” approach in dealing with other races?
Sarah does an excellent job of summing up the tone and approach Sedgwick takes regarding the Native American characters displayed throughout the novel. The post makes a good point that at times Sedgwick’s portrayal of the Native American people can be somewhat confusing. On the whole, as especially evident in the beginning of the novel, Hope Leslie take a more sympathetic perspective on the Native Americans, especially when describing their interactions with the Puritans themselves. This perspective provides a more diverse view of the events in this time period especially when compared to that of typical history books as we discussed in class. Despite this sympathetic approach, as Sarah point’s out, there are times especially towards the end of the book where the reader gets the feeling that the Native American’s are unwilling to deal kindly with the English unless receiving some kind of compensation in return. These conflicting views of the Native American people leave the reader feeling like Sedgwick is sending a mixed message at times throughout the novel.
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