Chris Shea
Professor Christine Doyle
ENG 348
02/02/16
Analytical Response Paper for Hope Leslie: Volume 1
In Volume 1 her of 2-Volume novel Hope Leslie, Catherine Maria Sedgwick demonstrates that in order for a character to be deep and complex, he (or she) does not have to be a white colonist from England. In this case we have Magawisca, who is, according to the introduction to the novel, the first complex Native American character in American literature. This means Sedgwick’s novel is a real testament to not only its feminist roots, but also to its race theory roots.
This is especially the case in chapter VII, which leads up to Mononotto’s attempted execution of Everell. Even as Everell accepts his own death because he believes his soul will go to heaven, Magawisca still sees it as a barbaric and unnecessary act by her father. The final words she even says to Everell before her father motions him to enter the hut are “Oh, my father, has your heart become stone?” (Sedgwick 91).
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Before the execution, Mononotto explains to the other Native Americans (especially the one who seemed like they wanted to kill Everell themselves) that he wanted to be the one to kill Everell, more specifically in one blow to the neck. The reason he brings up as to why these measures must be taken for Everell’s execution is because that’s exactly what the English settlers did to his oldest son when all he wanted to do was engage in peace talks with them. He sees this as the most justifiable measure possible: an eye for an