The Deerslayer or, The First War-Path [Paperback]

Set during the French and Indian Wars,The Deerslayervividly captures the essence of both the murderous humanity and the natural beauty that distinguished America’s founding. The last of Cooper’s famous Leatherstocking Tales, it is first chronologically in the frontier adventures of the backwoods scout Natty Bumppo. Amid a terrain largely inspired by Cooper’s own boyhood, Natty’s initiation in the moral codes of wilderness society is examined in what is, according to D. H. Lawrence, “the loveliest and best” of the Leatherstocking series.

This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the definitive text established by James Franklin Beard and James P. Elliott, which is the Approved Text of the Center for Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association.“James Fenimore Cooper was the first great American novelist.”—A. B. GuthrieLeslie A. Fiedleris Distinguished Professor and holds the Samuel L. Clemens Chair in English at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

1. ThoughThe Deerslayeris the last of the Leatherstocking Tales to be published, its events actually occur first chronologically. How, if at all, does this inform the tone of the novel?

2. Discuss the role of the landscape and the role of women inThe Deerslayer. Fiedler discusses their threat to the exalted male camaraderie, particularly in the relationship of Natty and Chingachgook throughout the Leatherstocking Tales; how does Judith’s fate speak to this?

3. In his Introduction, Leslie A. Fiedler likens Cooper to a sort of American Sir Walter Scott. DoesThe Deerslayerstrike you as a similar kind of heroic romance? Why or why not?

4. At publication, many critics disagreed with Cooper’s treatment of Judith in the novel. Discuss.

5. How doesThe Deerslayerestablish Natty’s developing moral consciousness? What parallels or distinctions does Cooper drlƒf