What Is The Use Of Metaphor In Mark Twain's Fenimore Cooper

In the novels of Fenimore Cooper, miracles occur. Ships travel down magically shrinking bodies of water, boats squeezed through miniature tunnels, and Indians plunge into water while avoiding dangers. While this fictitious world creates a thrilling environment, it consequently depreciates the meaning of his works. In Mark Twain’s essay, “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses,” he criticizes Cooper’s lack of realistic detail. When describing the Indians of Deerslayer, Cooper fails to provide accurate, practical depictions of the environment. Through Twain’s usage of metaphor, rhetorical question, and sarcastic tone, he conveys a condemning attitude. Twain critiques Cooper with the inclusion of metaphor. This metaphor highlights the vague descriptions of Cooper’s work and relates it to the foggy vision produced by a glass eye. Twain evaluates, “He saw nearly all things as through a glass eye, darkly” (6-7).The vivid correlation uniting the glass eye

Twain provides rhetorical questions followed by bitter responses. He wonders, “Now, then, what did the six Indians do?” Followed by the answer, “It would take you thirty years to guess… Therefore, I will tell you…” (65-67). Twain emphasizes the unrealistic details of Cooper; the extent of the fictitious detail is beyond common sense. The overall spiteful answers that Twain provides insults Cooper’s insight. Moreover, the actions of the Indians prove impractical, “Did the Indians notice that there was going to be a tight squeeze there?... No, other Indians would have noticed these things, but Cooper’s Indians never notice anything” (50-55). Twain harasses Cooper’s figmented characters while disdainfully enunciating his style of writing. By specifying that Cooper constructs his own type of Indian, Twain insinuates his personally created characteristics of writing. Twain signifies attention to his questions and remarks Cooper’s writing in a condescending