Posted by Gayle on July 27, 1998 at 13:30:17:
In Reply to: Re: Do we Really Hate Magua??? posted by ann on July 27, 1998 at 10:57:17:
Ann wrote:
You just have to be an English Lit. teacher......am I right?....your in-depth character studies sound as though "Last of the Mohicans" has been under your microscope before the movie?
Well, Ann, you flatter me. No, I'm no longer a teacher, but yes, all the Leatherstocking Tales have been under my microscope for some time. I got hooked on the enigma of Natty Bumppo, and that led to a lot of reading and research and even writing, which I had not done in many years. Am currently reading or re-reading most of the works of Cooper, because the context is what counts with understanding his work and variations of his work in other books and movies. Combined with the vast range of conversation and fun on this Board, there's been a lot of inspiration for me, and of course I have the fun of espousing the literature vs. the movie, which leads to some grand melees on the Board. I love discussing the Cooper books, but I also love playing the Devil's Advocate, which you may or may not have noticed yet.
And Ann continued:
: Magua's life history, the title of the book/movie, the talk of Indian allies for English, French all inspired me after viewing LOTM to do more research on native americans. Can't say that I personally feel any responsibility for the shameless way they've been treated since Europeans first set foot in No. America; since my ancestors were busy struggling with the same kind of unjust domination by the English in Ireland at the time. As a matter of fact, being a resident of The Keystone State, have been rather proud that William Penn seems to have been the only European who handled his dealings with our Native Americans with integrity. Haven't given much thought to this particular chapter of U.S. history before--it has become a fascinating subject for me since viewing LOTM....ann
This could lead to some interesting exchanges of ideas. I am not sympathetic with the British when it comes to the subject of Ireland, but had I lived in America in the 1700s, I would have been a Tory to the core. I really question whether we did ourselves a favor by obtaining our independence. What conflicted thinking!! It's a subject I haven't really thought through or talked through with anyone, so my thinking is fuzzy. If you want to straighten me out, probably E-mail would avoid our clogging up the Board with stuff that is not really LOTM related.
Gayle