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Simile
Explanation and Analysis—Swiftness of a Deer:
A motif in the novel is the use of animal comparisons to describe human characteristics and behavior. In Chapter 7, as Hawkeye, Duncan, and the Mohicans fend off their attackers, Cooper uses a simile to describe Hawkeye as deer-like:
In the center of the little island, a few short and stunted pines had found root, forming a thicket, into which Hawkeye darted with the swiftness of a deer, followed by the active Duncan.
By comparing Hawkeye to a deer, Cooper suggests that he is highly adapted to the wilderness. He knows his way around and is as adept at evading "predators" as he is at stalking prey with his rifle, "Kildeer." But whereas Cooper leans on this simile to help the reader imagine Hawkeye's graceful movement, he describes Duncan as simply "active." Duncan, who did not grow up in the wilderness, does not have the animal-like adaptations of Hawkeye.
Throughout the novel, although animal comparisons are frequent, they mostly describe American Indian people. For instance, Chingachgook's name refers to a serpent because he is, once again, very good at navigating the forest with stealth. Magua is "Le Renard Subtil," or the sly fox. Hawkeye is the only white character Cooper regularly describes in terms of his animal traits, and that is because he has lived his life alongside American Indians. White people in the 19th century (and also today in some cases) often discussed American Indian people as though they were part of the natural world rather than part of "civilization." Many American Indians did have more generational knowledge about the natural world than white colonists did, and the natural world occupies a place of particular significance in many American Indian worldviews. But the association between American Indian people and animals has often been used to dehumanize them and to suggest that they are part of a wilderness that must be cleared to make way for modern civilization. Cooper's novel about the "extinction" of the Mohicans plays into this idea, however mournfully.
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