The Chainbearer
| Author | James Fenimore Cooper |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
Publication date | 1845 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Preceded by | Santanstoe |
| Followed by | The Redskins |
The Chainbearer; or The Littlepage Manuscripts is a novel by the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper first published in 1845. The Chainbearer is the second book in a trilogy starting with Santanstoe and ending with The Redskins.[1]
Themes
Critical to the trilogy of novels, is the sense of expansion through the measuring and acquisition of land by civilization.The title The Chainbearer represents "the man who carries the chains in measuring the land, the man who helps civilization to grow from the wilderness, but who at the same time continues the chain of evil, increases the potentiality for corruption."[1] The central position of the "Chainbearer" allows Cooper to deal with the cultural lack of understanding Native American's had towards the European sense of land ownership. This in turn allows Cooper to critique ownership in general.[2]
Also, Cooper, like in many of his novels, focuses on the growing corruption of individuals in "civilization" as it expands. This Cooper attributes "an inherent principle in the corrupt nature of man to misuse all his privileges. . . . If history proves anything, it proves this." Two characters, in particular, represent this growing corruption of civilization, Andries Mordaunt, the chainbearer, and Aaron, known as "Thousandacres".[1] The men represent different types of the civilization, Mordaunt as the usurper of old civilization and Thousandacres representing an older society which the new "civilization" means to usurp. Eventually this new civilization decides to embrace force in order to lay full claim on the land.[3]
References
- ^ a b c O'Donnell, Charles (Autumn, 1961). "Progress and Property: The Later Cooper". American Quarterly. 13 (3). The Johns Hopkins University Press: 402–409. Retrieved 13 September, 2010.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Bagby, George F. (July, 1991). "The Temptations of Pathfinder: Cooper's Radical Critique of Ownership". The 8th Cooper Seminar, James Fenimore Cooper: His Country and His Art at the State University of New York College at Oneonta. James Fenimore Cooper Society. Retrieved September 13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Marder, Daniel (Summer, 1985). "Cooper's Second Cycle". South Central Review. 2 (2). The Johns Hopkins University Press on behalf of The South Central Modern Language Association: 23–37. Retrieved 13/09/2010.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help)