The American experience: history, culture, and society

American Literature

The End of Savagery: The Abolition of Traditional, American Indian Societies to pave way for the White American's "New World" Society

America between the 18th and 19th centuries experienced a transition from being a traditional to a gradually modernizing society. With increased capabilities to be more mobile and travel other territories all over the world, the Western nations -- European nations, in particular -- sought to discover new societies and territories wherein they can establish new societies, extensions of societies that they already have in their own respective countries. With the objective of expanding their power and influence around the world, these Western nations found success when they discovered the territory they called the "New World," the territory that is now known as the American nation.

As the white conquerors set to establish their colonies in the New World, a radical change was implemented, wherein the territory's early and original inhabitants, the American Indians, faced competition and conflict against the conquerors. As the European conquerors lived in the New World, a corresponding program of eradicating the traditional societies established by the American Indians was implemented. Similarly, annihilation of tribes who disagreed or disapproved of the Europeans' plans to conquer their new territory was also supported and encouraged.

These dynamics that occurred during these periods are mirrored in the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, and James Fenimore Cooper. In the literary texts that they authored, the short story "Young Goodman Brown," "The Devil and Tom Walker," and "The Last of the Mohicans," respectively, all have expressed their disapproval and criticism of the radical eradication of American Indian societies as the white man set out to establish his own colony -- eventually, a new society and nation -- in the New World that is America. In these works, the theme of preservation of early traditional cultures -- in this case, the preservation of American Indian cultures and societies -- is dominantly illustrated and analyzed. That is, in the face of accelerated progress and development, the authors remind their readers that one must not forget ("eradicate") the heritage from which a nation traces its roots from.

Hawthorne in the short story "Young Goodman Brown" effectively showed through symbolism the white man's "persecution" of the American Indians, considered as barbaric and savage in their ways and traditions. The story symbolized American Indians as the "devil," once referring to the devil as 'devilish Indian.' The prejudice is apparent in Goodman's attitude, as he set out to find in the forest the 'devil.' His objective of searching the devil in the forest is interpreted as the persecution of the White Man against the American Indian. Interestingly, Hawthorne showed Goodman experiencing a sudden doubt in his Christian faith as he entered the forest and confronted the devil/s he and his company were seeking: "My faith is gone!...There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for thee is this world given...come Indian powwow...here comes Goodman Brown...You may as well fear him as he fear you." This exclamation of subtle doubt and manifest fear demonstrated the fear of the White Man of the American Indian; that the White Man's oppression of the latter is the result of the fear that he has in encountering resistance as they controlled and eventually conquered the New World.

Like Hawthorne, Irving in the short story "The Devil and Tom Walker" showed that the annihilation of the American Indian race to gain power over the New World is an action that is both unwise and detrimental to the progress of the New World society. The New World is represented by Tom Walker, who, at the expense of giving his life to the Devil and sacrificing his wife's life, willingly dealt with the Devil in order to have great wealth and luxurious comfort in life. Despite the wealth that Walker amassed through the years, all his hard work and wealth had been useless as he gave himself as payment to the Devil: "...all his bonds and mortgages were found reduced to cinders. In place of gold and silver his iron chest filled with chips and shavings..." The wealth of the New World, which Walker symbolizes, becomes meaningless as the White Man did not seek to preserve its history and heritage, of which the Indian was a significant part of.