Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Hope Leslie, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Religious Conflict and Tolerance
Interracial Relationships
Violence and Historical Memory
Women’s Roles
The Puritan Heritage
Summary
Analysis
The next morning, Mr. Fletcher departs for Boston, arriving there nine days later. Along with the two girls, their widowed aunt, Mrs. Grafton, and their tutor, Master Cradock, will join the household. Mrs. Grafton is a devout Anglican, and she is indifferent to her Puritan neighbors’ exhortations on this account. In fact, she is much more dogmatic about fashion than religion; but she is most devoted of all to her nieces.
The Fletcher household absorbs not just Alice Fletcher’s daughters and the American Indian children sent to assist the family, but members of Alice Fletcher’s extended household as well. Mrs. Grafton is a staunch advocate of the traditional Church of England but, not being very theologically-minded, gives a more lighthearted tone to the religious debates in the story.
Themes
Alice Fletcher’s younger daughter, Mary, is shy and spoiled. The elder, Alice, is warm and loving, and Mr. Fletcher can’t help noticing that she looks just like her mother. Mr. Fletcher sends Mary home along with Mrs. Grafton and Oneco, and he remains with Alice and Master Cradock. First, however, he has Alice and Mary baptized and renamed Hope and Faith, respectively.
Mr. Fletcher is immediately fond of his older adoptive daughter because of her resemblance to Alice Fletcher. He gives them more traditionally Puritan-sounding names as if to suggest that they will blend into his family and society better that way.
Themes
Literary Devices
Mr. Fletcher is detained in Boston for several months. In the meantime, the household back in Springfield—which he calls Bethel—thrives, thanks to Martha’s quiet influence. She sends her husband a letter sharing details of daily life in his absence. Martha reports that Mrs. Grafton is a strange fit in the Puritan wilderness, and that Everell teases her about her allegiance to the prayer-book. Everell, meanwhile, is devoted to Magawisca; they exchange stories from their cultures, and Everell has taught Magawisca to read.
Martha manages the household with authority in her husband’s absence, showing that her submissive demeanor doesn’t preclude a degree of leadership. Everell and Magawisca are the book’s first example of an interracial friendship—they enjoy each other’s company, and each is able to learn from the other, on a relatively equal ground.
Themes
Mrs. Fletcher has tried to teach Magawisca religion, using Mr. Cotton’s Catechism, but with little success. Magawisca also resists joining Jennet in the household chores—it is too difficult to “clip the wings of her soaring thoughts.” Mrs. Fletcher marvels at Magawisca’s unique beauty and gifted mind, despite the fact that she is a “child of the forest.” She wonders whether Magawisca and Everell ought to be separated before they grow too attached to one another. Oneco, meanwhile, is a help with the younger Fletcher children, cheerful in contrast to his solemn sister, and especially devoted to little Faith Leslie.
Mr. Cotton refers to John Cotton, who was the preeminent Puritan clergyman and theologian in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Catechisms are teaching documents, written in a question-and-answer format, designed to instill the theological basics of Christianity. Magawisca is resistant to various elements of “civilized” colonial life, remaining associated with the wilderness. This makes Mrs. Fletcher nervous about her friendship with Everell.
Themes
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Lately, Mrs. Fletcher reports, there have been rumors of unfriendly American Indians in the nearby forest. The Fletchers have been encouraged to move into the town fort, but, despite her forebodings, Mrs. Fletcher refuses to give in to fear, knowing her husband will be home soon. Though not wishing to overstep her wifely bounds, she closes the letter by asking her husband if Everell might spend a few years in England to finish his education, since opportunities are limited for him here on the American frontier.
The forest, again, is an ominous place marked by suggestions of danger. Mrs. Fletcher is noted for her courage, however, as well as her willingness to state her strong preferences—even though she does this within the bounds of traditional feminine submissiveness.
Themes
Mrs. Fletcher has reason for alarm. Near Bethel lives an old American Indian woman named Nelema. One day, Nelema brings Mrs. Fletcher berries and herbs, as she often does, but when it’s time for her to leave, she stares sadly at Mrs. Fletcher’s sons. With Magawisca’s translation, Nelema explains that she, too, once had sons and grandsons, but they were struck down by the English, and now she has no descendants left.
Nelema is an interesting example of a relationship between a colonist and an American Indian neighbor. On one hand, she and Mrs. Fletcher have a friendly, cooperative relationship, but at the same time, Sedgwick portrays Nelema as being very frank about what she’s suffered at the hands of English violence—a first example of Native American characters voicing their perspective throughout the story.
Themes
After Nelema leaves, Mrs. Fletcher sees that she has left behind an arrow and the rattle of a rattlesnake. Magawisca goes with Nelema, and when she returns, she looks dejected. Magawisca tearfully says that Mrs. Fletcher has been like a mother to her. When Mrs. Fletcher asks her to interpret the symbols which Nelema left behind, Magawisca turns pale, explaining that the objects represent approaching danger and death. She will say no more, either to Mrs. Fletcher or Everell. Mrs. Fletcher appoints Digby and some of the other household men to remain on guard for the night—not an unusual occurrence. Everell decides to join them.
Magawisca feels torn between her fondness for the Fletchers and her loyalty to her people. The ominous symbols Nelema left behind suggest that the Fletchers’ relationship with their American Indian neighbors is more fragile than they have assumed.
Themes
Literary Devices
