A Cry of Silence: Cooper's Epigraph in Chapter III

Before these fields were shorn and tilled,Full to the brim our rivers flowed;The melody of waters filledThe fresh and boundless wood;And torrents dashed and rivulets played,And fountains spouted in the shade.

These 6 lines, drawn from William Bryant's poem, "An Indian At The Burial Place Of His Fathers," are the components of the epigraph preceding Chapter III of James Fenimore Cooper's, The Last of the Mohicans.  In this case, Cooper's use of this particular piece of writing is meant to elucidate or foreshadow what the chapter is about.
Bryant's poem was written in 1824, which is around the time when The Last of the Mohicans was published.  Because of this, it would seem as though Cooper was assuming that his audience would be familiar with the work, if not with the author.  The poem is written in rhyming iambic pentameter, which gives it a musical and "pretty" sound.  However, this acts in sharp contrast to the idea the poem puts forth.  The main message in this poem is that the sounds of nature and the land which the Natives inhabit are slowly dying away and being crushed by the sounds of a new country, by the sounds of progress.
This theme is strongly supported in Cooper's third chapter.  Most notably, when Chingachgook speaks to Hawkeye, "...and when Uncas follows in my footsteps, there will no longer be any of the blood of the sagamores, for my boy is the last of the Mohicans," (32) it hammers home the idea of Bryant's poem.  The blood of the Mohicans is being smothered, just like the sounds of nature in the epigraph.  This point is also emphasized with the description of Hawkeye and his later words to Chingachgook: "...the other exhibited, through the mask of his rude and nearly savage equipments, the brighter, though sunburnt and long-faded, complexion of one who might claim descent from European parentage." (27) & "What do you hear, Chingachgook?  For to my ears the woods are dumb." (35)  Here, the dying sounds of the woods are linked directly to Hawkeye and his apparent "European Parentage," just another affrimation of the epigraph's place at the beginning of Chapter III.
-Riannon S.

Lack Thereof

In terms of the genre of the Gothic Novel, there are many elements that are essential and rudimentary to the Gothic style.  This list includes such aspects as manifestation of social and economic tensions, terror, horror, the supernatural, architecture/setting, etc.  Of particular importance in Charles Brockden Brown's novel, Edgar Huntly (Memoirs of a Sleep Walker), is the setting, more specifically, the Wilderness.  However, the Wilderness is never described to the audience in any more detail than that it is the Wilderness of Norwalk.  Despite the lack of description, the audience still perceives the Wilderness as Edgar Huntly does, the audience still feels threatened.  This ability to manipulate the audience's perceptions and sensations is what marks Brown as a Gothic novelist and Edgar Huntly as terrifying.


Because of this novel's classification as one of the first American Gothic Novels, the manifestation of the social concerns of the time are prevalent.  The most major of these is, arguably, how the concerns with founding a new nation become visible throughout the text.  The main problem with this new nation is the "unknown".  The Wilderness in this novel not only strongly represents that unknown, but also the feeling of being trapped by so much openness, being confined by the vast emptiness, and the genuine terror of truly being on one's own.  As previously eluded to in the preceding blog, "Terrible Horror, Horrible Terror," an author's lack of description in a novel is what can create genuine fear and suspense or, more broadly, terror.  In this case, the lack of description in terms of the wilderness makes the audience fear it and view it as a threat.


Approximately a third of the way into the novel, there are numerous depictions of a specific unknown area of Wilderness, which Huntly encounters on his search for Clithero.  It would seem that this section is dedicated to the unknown, the dangers it provides, and the fear it evokes.


Intense dark is always the parent of fears.  Impending injuries cannot in this state be descried, nor shunned. nor repelled.  (96)


Chilling damps, the secret trepidation which attended me, the length and difficulties of my way, enhanced by the ceaseless caution and the numerous expedients which the utter darkness obliged me to employ, began to overpower my strength. (97)


I advanced to the outer verge of a hill, which I found to overlook a steep, no less inaccessible... (98)


A stream rushing from above fell into a cavity, which its own force seemed gradually to have made. (99)


A sort of sanctity and awe environed it, owing to the consciousness of absolute and utter loneliness. (99)


At length, I looked upon the rocks which confined and embarrassed its course.  I admired their fantastic shapes, and endless irregularities. (99)


Had my station been, in a slight degree nearer the brink than it was, I should have fallen headlong into the abyss. (99)

This section employs the use of words such as, difficulties, ceaseless, darkness, inaccessible, cavity, force, awe, loneliness, confined, endless, brink, and abyss.  These words are representative of the true nature of the fear Huntly feels in his situation, as well as the fear the people of this new nation feel as a whole.  It is interesting that Huntly is describing this area where, human feet had never before gained this recess, that human eyes had never been fixed upon these gushing waters (99), to Mary in his letter, and yet his description is so vague and un-awe-inspiring.  Instead, the audience is left with the uncertainty and anticipation so often associated with fear and terror, thus making it possible for the audience to see the wilderness as a genuine threat.  With his lack of detailed description, Brown also makes it necessary for the audience to use personal imagination to fill in the spaces; often what our own imagination can procure is more frightening than what anyone else could ever put into words.


Had these virgin experiences been written by another author, there would surely have been much more detailed description of the endless beauty and awe-inspiring features of a new landscape.  Perhaps even more detail in terms of how this new scene made the characters feel, instead of leaving it up to the audience to do the feeling.  However, although the audience would gain a more vivid understanding of the Wilderness surrounding Huntly, we would lose that all-important sense of uncertainty and fear which is so crucial to the Gothic genre and, in turn, to Edgar Huntly.


-Riannon S.


Brown, Charles Brockden. Edgar Huntly or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker (1799). Toronto: Penguin, 1988.

Terrible Horror, Horrible Terror

When one watches a chilling film, reads a spooky novel, or has a truly frightening experience, there are almost always elements of both Horror and Terror.  That is not to say that these two things are the same, they are, in fact, very different.

In terms of film, Terror and Horror can be created and experienced through many different mediums.  In a movie, the Terror element is the suspense or buildup before a frightening scene.  The tension and anticipation the audience experiences are indicators of Terror.  The Terror element in film is often heightened by other aspects such as camera angle, music (or absence thereof), setting, etc.  On the other hand, Horror is what the audience experiences during and/or after a frightening scene.  The feelings of awe or disgust created by the scene can also be described as Horror.  For example, in the popular horror film, "Psycho," directed by Alfred Hitchcock, a scene involving both Terror and Horror would be when the first murder is committed.  Marion, the sister of one of the main characters is stabbed to death in the shower.  For the audience, the Terror is the buildup and feeling of genuine fear before she is stabbed.  We see the murderer enter the bathroom as she is showering, brandishing a knife above his head.  Although we can feel confident in the assumption that he is going to stab her, we experience Terror because we are uncertain and because it is suspenseful.  The Horror element comes into play when she is stabbed repeatedly and lies bleeding and dying on the bathroom floor; this is where the audience experiences the shock and disgust which often accompany horrific scenes.

When it comes to a novel or literature, Terror and Horror are categorized the same way as in film, but they are created differently.  Because it is an author's aim to create an image in a reader's mind, to create Terror or suspense the author may actually write more vaguely than is customary to create uncertainty and fear of what is to come.  For example, in the novel, "Perfume," written by Patrick Süskind, Terror is achieved by the absence of the description of the murder by Jean-Baptiste Grenouille of young Laure.  The audience is left in suspense until the next chapter, when our fears are confirmed by the description of her lifeless body; this is where the Horror sets in.

The elements of Terror and Horror in personal experience are also characterized in the same manner as film and literature, but can be even more frightening because of their personal nature.  One of the most common and relatable instances of Terror in a personal experience would be when one has the feeling of being stalked or followed.  This feeling could occur because of a noise one heard or just because of a "gut" feeling.  This will result in Terror because of the uncertainty of who, or what, is doing the following and what will happen in the near future.  Horror in personal experience however, would more resemble coming across an article or news story about someone who was stalked and followed repeatedly and then brutally murdered by the stalker.  This would invoke feelings of Horror because it is an awful incident, which, as in film and literature, disgusts and shocks us.

Although Terror and Horror are experienced and created differently in film, literature, and personal events, they always invoke the same emotions in us respectively.  For Terror, whether in film, literature, or experience, the audience or person will feel tension, suspense, uncertainty and often genuine fear of what is to come.  Horror, however,  is not fear.  Horror is the shock value and feelings of disgust and awe at the outcome or conclusion of a situation or scene.  The elements and feelings of Terror and Horror are often mistakenly grouped together as the same, however, as is evident by the vastly contrasting feelings evoked by both, they are anything but.

-Riannon S.

Born This Way

So....

I guess I should start with my name...Riannon.  I know it looks kind of scary, but it's not so bad after you hear it a few times.  If it helps though, you can call me Ray or Rain, a lot of people find that easier :)  I was born in Toronto, but my parents moved to Kelowna before I was even 6 months old, so I consider myself a B.C. and Kelowna girl.  I was a major tomboy growing up and always loved sports.  I used to ski a LOT when my family lived up at Big White (a ski hill near Kelowna), but when we moved, I switched to volleyball and now that is my favourite sport.  I went to 2 different high schools and really enjoyed the experience of switching environments, which is why I tried 2 universities as well.  This will be my 3rd year, but only my second at UVIC; I attended UBCO in Kelowna as well.  I found that the city of Victoria and the University were a better feel for me and so I stayed.  My roommate and I have also started working on starting the first Sorority here at UVIC and I can't wait until things start rolling along, we're having our first meeting on Tuesdays.  My major is in English and I'm also minoring in German Studies, but I've taken some writing, psychology, women's studies, and history in art.  After I finish my Bachelor's degree, I want to go to Mexico or Japan or Germany and teach English for a year or two and then come back and do my Master's degree, hopefully in Canadian Literature.  I'm taking this class because it looked interesting and I wanted to broaden my knowledge of English Literature.  Hopefully that little blurb about myself was useful :)

-Riannon