The tone of the novel is sensational, but in a way that is calculated to motivate readers' interest in the novel's historical and political questions. For instance, Magawisca's agitation and Nelema's sinister omens build up to Sedgwick's extremely graphic description in Volume 1, Chapter 5, of Mononotto's raid on Bethel:
Mononotto’s heart melted within him; he stooped to raise the sweet suppliant [Mrs. Fletcher's baby], when one of the Mohawks fiercely seized him, tossed him wildly around his head, and dashed him on the doorstone. But the silent prayer—perhaps the celestial inspiration of the innocent creature, was not lost. “We have had blood enough,” cried Mononotto, “you have well avenged me, brothers.”
This description of Mononotto watching as the baby is smashed against the stone doorstep and killed is supposed to be disturbing and sensational. It is the moment of horror the reader has been waiting for alongside Magawisca since she realized that her father was coming to exact revenge on the Fletchers. Sedgwick is not writing violence only for violence's sake. Rather, this scene functions as a racist depiction of how "savagely" the Mohawks are willing to behave simply because Mononotto has asked them to. Furthermore, it shows that Mononotto himself just barely retains the ability to recognize human suffering and show restraint once he feels he has avenged his family. The sensational tone thus serves a political purpose: it makes American Indians seem like a monstrous obstacle to white colonists' life and liberty while also suggesting that colonists' violence has only made American Indians a more formidable enemy.
The novel downplays sensationalism that might distract readers from the "right" message. In Volume 2, Chapter 15, the narrator addresses some of the novel's readers:
We leave it to that large, and most indulgent class of our readers, the misses in their teens, to adjust, according to their own fancy, the ceremonial of our heroine’s wedding, which took place in due time, to the joy of her immediate friends, and the entire approbation of all the inhabitants of Boston, who, in those early times, manifested a friendly interest in individual concerns, which is said to characterise them to the present day.
Sedgwick imagines that many of her readers are teenage girls. She waves away these readers' interest in Hope's wedding, generically stating that it happened and that readers can imagine it if they like. This dismissive tone complements the suspense and sensationalism that characterizes much of the novel. Sedgwick states in the preface that she wants her novel to inspire young readers to be interested in their local history. When it comes to the young women reading her novel, she was especially committed to the idea that they should emulate Hope's spunky defiance of the rules, her sympathy for Magawisca and Nelema, and her clever ways of manipulating circumstances to achieve just outcomes. These aspects of Hope's personality come through in the novel's most dramatic moments, such as when she helps Magawisca escape from jail. Hope's marriage to Everell is almost beside the point as long as she keeps trying to do the right thing. Sedgwick changes her tone when she describes Hope's marriage because she does not want readers to think her heroine's wedding is the whole point of the novel.
The tone of the novel is sensational, but in a way that is calculated to motivate readers' interest in the novel's historical and political questions. For instance, Magawisca's agitation and Nelema's sinister omens build up to Sedgwick's extremely graphic description in Volume 1, Chapter 5, of Mononotto's raid on Bethel:
Mononotto’s heart melted within him; he stooped to raise the sweet suppliant [Mrs. Fletcher's baby], when one of the Mohawks fiercely seized him, tossed him wildly around his head, and dashed him on the doorstone. But the silent prayer—perhaps the celestial inspiration of the innocent creature, was not lost. “We have had blood enough,” cried Mononotto, “you have well avenged me, brothers.”
This description of Mononotto watching as the baby is smashed against the stone doorstep and killed is supposed to be disturbing and sensational. It is the moment of horror the reader has been waiting for alongside Magawisca since she realized that her father was coming to exact revenge on the Fletchers. Sedgwick is not writing violence only for violence's sake. Rather, this scene functions as a racist depiction of how "savagely" the Mohawks are willing to behave simply because Mononotto has asked them to. Furthermore, it shows that Mononotto himself just barely retains the ability to recognize human suffering and show restraint once he feels he has avenged his family. The sensational tone thus serves a political purpose: it makes American Indians seem like a monstrous obstacle to white colonists' life and liberty while also suggesting that colonists' violence has only made American Indians a more formidable enemy.
The novel downplays sensationalism that might distract readers from the "right" message. In Volume 2, Chapter 15, the narrator addresses some of the novel's readers:
We leave it to that large, and most indulgent class of our readers, the misses in their teens, to adjust, according to their own fancy, the ceremonial of our heroine’s wedding, which took place in due time, to the joy of her immediate friends, and the entire approbation of all the inhabitants of Boston, who, in those early times, manifested a friendly interest in individual concerns, which is said to characterise them to the present day.
Sedgwick imagines that many of her readers are teenage girls. She waves away these readers' interest in Hope's wedding, generically stating that it happened and that readers can imagine it if they like. This dismissive tone complements the suspense and sensationalism that characterizes much of the novel. Sedgwick states in the preface that she wants her novel to inspire young readers to be interested in their local history. When it comes to the young women reading her novel, she was especially committed to the idea that they should emulate Hope's spunky defiance of the rules, her sympathy for Magawisca and Nelema, and her clever ways of manipulating circumstances to achieve just outcomes. These aspects of Hope's personality come through in the novel's most dramatic moments, such as when she helps Magawisca escape from jail. Hope's marriage to Everell is almost beside the point as long as she keeps trying to do the right thing. Sedgwick changes her tone when she describes Hope's marriage because she does not want readers to think her heroine's wedding is the whole point of the novel.
