Saturday, January 25, 2014

The Patriarchal Natty Bumppo

About a week ago I made a post on James Fenimore Cooper’s Leather Stocking series of novels that feature the protagonist, Natty Bumppo. I mentioned that I had read a few of the novels out of historical sequence.

After reading The Deerslayer, The First War Path I am glad for this unintentional breach. I am afraid if I had I started with The Deerslayer I may not have decided to continue to my readings in this series.

In the novels that following the Deerslayer, Natty Bumppo is circumspective, but laid back. Natty Bumppo was a character that I could live with; however in the Dearslayer I found the character of Natty Bumppo to patriarchal for his age. Natty Bumppo is young here, this is his first war path, but he seems to have wisdom beyond his years.

He is ready to return to the Huron’s camp to be to be tortured and you find him giving advice to all of his compatriots. This is the point where the character of Natty Bumppo takes a turn and no longer seems convincing.

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