At the end of the novel, The Pioneers, by James Fenimore Cooper, Natty Bumppo decides that he must depart the area around Templeton and move away to the Great Lakes. Natty claims that he must depart as the rest of his people, the Indians, are all gone despite being a white man himself. With no more of his ‘people’ around, he must leave behind the civilization that has encroached on the land he has lived off for years and find a new place, untouched by the settlers.
In the final line of the book, Natty is described as the, “foremost in that band of pioneers who are opening the way for the march of the nation across the continent” (436). Although Natty believes he is leaving civilization behind, the book ends by portraying him as the first of many pioneers who will move to other unsettled parts of the new nation. Natty dislikes Templeton and its wasteful ways, he admonishes the wasteful killing of pigeons and fish and is baffled when he is told when and where he can kill a deer. As a firm believer in taking only what is needed, Natty often clashed with the people of Templeton, specifically Judge Temple over artificial laws and the way of the land that Indian’s have abided by.
Although Natty is a white man, his values are more similar to the Indians which explains why he feels that he must leave Templeton. With no one else like him, Natty is a foreigner to the people of Templeton who work hard to build the ever growing town. Natty leaves to start over in a new, unsettled place, however his migration is the first among many steps of settling the land throughout the country. A man of the wilderness, Natty paves the way for the first pioneers that will come through his new home as he will have gained the experience needed to help them survive. Although Natty is against settling the entirety of the country, and consuming all the resources of the land, he is up against a relentless wave of pioneers moving out into the country. His way of life, the Indian’s way of life, is over and all he can do is run away from its reach.
I agree. I saw a conflict between two types of civilizations: Bumppo and the Indians who lived alone with the nature and the white,. civilized people who created artificial law system, educational system as well as other social rules and try to get control of the nature. Finally Bumppo ran away to the West, but as long as the Pioneers were still on their way, I felt like they were just going to apply the same system to all other places, no matter where Bumppo headed.
I think “Indian John” epitomizes what you highlight. When he discusses his life, he often complains of the level intrusion white settlers had on his life and the life of his tribe. I think his death is very reflective of how Cooper viewed the future of American Indians. Rather than live in a state of mourning for his lost people, Chingachgook decides to burn and, I think, finds a certain level of peace.
When Chingachgook decides to burn and die instead of fighting for his life, I agree that he finds peace for himself. In addition, it seems like in that same moment, that he has accepted the end of his people and Indians in general. When Natty Bumppo decides to leave Templeton, he too sees the end of his way of life and tries to restart although it may not last.
I like the last line of the story. It describes how quickly America is progressing and the vast changes that are coming with the development of new technologies. The last line also describes how Bumppo is a hero because he is an example of how these new towns must operate, and by burning down his hut he is done with that settlement and is on his way to the next.
I too believe that the split between the Indians and the people of Templeton is evident. Natty Bumppo is a white man but he is grouped in with the Indians because he shares much more in common with them than the settlers of Templeton. Bumppo and the Indians both complain about settlers invading their land as the civilization continues to grow. After Chingachgook dies there is nothing left in Templeton for Bumppo and that is why he heads west. They both departed in their own way symbolizing the eradication of Indians and the expansion of American civilizations in the west.