I have heard much good about the skills of James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851). This novel, The Deerslayer, certainly has an intriguing name. There's something wonderful about the beautiful forests of Canada and Northern USA. I love the old western movies. If you, dear reader, are at all offended by racism or, to a lesser extent, sexism, then I suggest leaving this book aside. It was unpleasant to read and required quite some endurance.Cooper has a good vocabulary, and he is certainly decent at using it. However, his style is heavy in sentimentality. But the hardest thing for me was the abject racism and, to a lesser extent, sexism of the story that harmed this book.
For Deerslayer, the idea of marrying a 'red skin' is so abhorrent, that he would rather be killed than marry one. He says to Hetty, a 'feeble minded girl,' when she proposes that he marry the 'Indian' widow, "Ought the young to wive with the old--the pale-face with the red-skin--the Christian with the heathen?" Racism is very heavy throughout the novel. Hetty, as mentioned already being a half wit, is a half wit only insofar as that it is "a mind beneath the level of her race."
Cooper's novel will certainly offend the feminists, as the ideal woman "... shouldn't be forward, and speak their minds before they're asked." A good wife's place is there to, as Judith puts it, is "...ready to study your wishes, and healthy and dutiful children anxious to follow in your footsteps..."
This book took me a long time to read, and it wasn't pleasant. I'm glad it's over.
