This book was an interesting one. The book’s theme was one of racial divides, and how the Native Americans dealt with, and were dealt with the struggles during the third year of the French American war. The theme was brought about by various literary devices, and especially ones that are often forgotten. Some literary devices used to bring about the theme in this book were imagery, dialogue, and tone.
The first literary device this book offers up is imagery. Imagery can be shown in many ways. The book starts describing the setting, “The alarmed colonists believed that the yells of the savages mingled with every fitful gust of wind that issued from the interminable forests of the west.” The imagery within this sentence really sets up the setting as a place you would not want to be in. An unending forest filled with savage natives that would kill you on sight, showing the theme of the story right there in the beginning pages of the book. Another time this was used was further in the book, where it says “They complied without hesitation, though many a fearful and anxious glance was thrown behind them toward the thickening gloom which now lay like a dark barrier along the margin of the stream.” This bit of imagery is really good because it makes you see a void of darkness, instilling fear into your very heart and soul, and all because of the ever looming presence of the various native tribes. A Third example of this would be when it described “… around him, there was a sullen fierceness mingled with the quiet of the savage that was likely to arrest the attention of much more experienced eyes than those which now scanned him in unconcealed amazement.” This is describing how the English saw the Mohican Indian Runner as, as person with a sullen fierceness, and the quiet of the savage. It shows you how the natives were seen through the eyes of the white folk, which in turn draws out the theme.
The second literary device that I will be showing is dialogue. It is an often overlooked device that is sometimes even overused to nowhere near its full potential. One example of dialogue in this book is “even their own kind seem no more than the beasts of the wood.” This is a genuine quote showing the true nature of the divide between the natives and the settlers. “Beasts of the wood” is simply put a huge insult, further developing the theme. Another good use of description is “Let us remember we are men without a cross, and let us teach these natives of the forest that white blood can run as freely as red…” This quote here is of a white man talking about the natives, and how they can so easily slip in an out of the woods, and be stealthy and quick. But this also shows the white man being more aggressive. The man is explaining how his group can possibly outrun the natives, showing a competition between the two groups of people. “Well may you laugh, ye children of the devil.” Is a very simple quote, which pushes the theme of the story almost down the reader’s throat. It is so strong, that it is hard to not see the theme projected in it.
Tone is a very important literary device in any novel. It sets the mood at which you tell the story. It can be expressed through other literary devices as well. This quote, “The alarmed colonists believed that the yells of the savages mingled with every fitful gust of wind that issued from the interminable forests of the west,” mentioned earlier in the imagery section, is a perfect way to show two literary devices in one. The imagery sets the tone of darkness and fear, which is what the colonists held against the natives at that time. Another way tone can be set is through dialogue. This already stated quote, “even their own kind seem no more than the beasts of the wood,” is a good way to show this because it sets a mood of anger and distaste, hinting at the whole message of the racial divide between the French and the natives. One last quote from the book shows how a description can set the tone of the book, which was “The colors of the war paint had blended in dark confusion about his fierce countenance, and rendered his swarthy lineaments still more savage and repulsive than if art had attempted an effect.” This quote is showing how just by the war paint, it sets a tone of repulsiveness toward the native, making him ever more uncivilized than the common white colonist of the era.
In conclusion, imagery, dialogue, and tone are common, yet overlooked literary devices that can easily set the theme of a story alone. It was done very well within the Last of the Mohicans, as well as a string of other literary devices, creating the great classic that the story now stands as.
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