Concept of Relativity in The Last of the Mohicans

Cooper is an ardent believer and upholder of the eighteenth century rationalism. He is a rationalist. A rationalist believes in the idea of inevitable progress. By the enlightenment idea of progress we mean that progress is sure to happen.


James Fenimore Cooper

Even if the possibility of progress is dimmed and deviated by plenty of disturbing factors a rationalist simply believes that the disturbances is the cost of progress. They unwaveringly believe that sooner or later progress is sure to happen. This enlightenment idea of progress reached American also. In America it became a manifest destiny. The idea of manifest destiny is that civilization should be pressed all the way to the Pacific Ocean. When civilization is pressed towards the Pacific Ocean several kinds of violence break out. Civilization has to confront savagery, culture has to face Nature, and European race has to fact non-European tribal race. On frontier as condition numerous cases of violence happen. These violence can be avoided if we sincerely embrace the virtue of relativity. By the virtue of relativity we mean, the belief that everything has a place, everything in this world has a right to exist. This belief in relativity insists that there is rightness of Indian gifts and white gift, even the white European should not try to uproot Indians from their native gift. Likewise even the Indians should not directly take the Europeans as enemy.

Europeans have entered the frontier heralding the light of civilization. So, the frontiers people should not take those harbinger of civilization and culture as enemies. Cooper, through his mouthpiece Hawkeye, held that in trying to assert one's self, identity and being no group and nobody should try to violate other's gift and difference. There is nothing purely universal. There is nothing absolutely good and absolutely bad. Things are determined by where they are and who is going to gain it. Neither the white gift nor the Indian tribal heritage is independently and absolutely good. One must not blindly highlight one's own heritage. One has to learn to say yes to the existence of other's gift. If all participants on the scene of frontier follow the norms of relativity frontier disharmony and disarray gradually dwindles down to nothing. To our relief frontier will be a peaceful and progressive place ensuring idea of manifest destiny.