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The Gift Of Cochise Analysis

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In Western stories, Native people are illustrated as antagonists and are never seen as the main characters. Native people are the other side of the so-called frontier, where wildness, savagery and chaos are met. Western stories do not represent native people fairly. The typical archetype of American Indians in western stories has influenced and created stereotypes about Native people that still remain in nowadays society. In the story of Louis L’Amour, “The Gift of Cochise”, Native people, also called ‘the other’, are represented more fairly compared to typical Westerns which portray them as non-civilized and savage. In his story, Louis L’Amour illustrates Indians as peaceful and civilized compared to typical western stories, as well as compared …show more content…

The ‘other’ is the side of the frontier that is unknown, and in western stories often represented as chaotic and savage. The ‘other’ can also include women in Westerns, since women are not considered equal to men. They have no right and no real importance in stories. They are represented as inferior to men. In the gift of Cochise, Angie is shown as an independent woman and she is playing the role of a man, since her man is gone. She is a contradictory character since she considered as a woman and she is left in peace by Cochise’s warriors and she is not attacked because of her gender, however, on the other side she does men’s work. In typical Western stories, the Indians, on the other side, are described as blood-thirsty and savage. For example, in the captivity narrative of Fanny Kelly, Fanny describes the Sioux as immoral, aggressive and savage. In the story of Louis L’Amour, Cochise is represented as understanding towards Angie and he is more respectful. The Indians are also understanding and they empathize towards Angie. Angie receives a quarter of antelope from the Indians on her doorstep several times, which is a proof of respect and peace. This can be interpreted as empathy towards her, as if they would owe her respect and help. She also gave a gift to an Apache girl in return. Moreover, Angie is represented as a strong woman capable of fighting and defending herself. For example, she has killed one of the Cochise warrior who attacked her. However, she “has no wish to fight [Cochise] people” (L’Amour 446). She wants to live on her own as well as to let them live on their ways. As a consequence, she receives respect from Indians. In the Gift to Cochise, the author shows that the Indians were not only savage and blood-thirst warrior, without proving the contrary, the Indians had some

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