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James Fenimore Cooper, whose writing has evoked admiration is considered to be the first true American novelist. His most popular work, The Last of the Mohicans, has remained one of the most widely read novels throughout the world and it, along with the other four novels that make up The Leatherstocking Tales, has impacted the way many view both the American Indians and the frontier period of American history. The image of the strong and fearless frontiersman, as well as the wise and noble red man was borne more from Coopers characterizations than any other source. James Cooper was born in Burlington, New Jersey on September 15, 1789. The young boy began life with all the advantages of wealth and social prominence.
James was one of thirteen children of Judge William Cooper, an early visionary who was able to obtain great financial success despite his own humble beginnings. The judge settled vast tracts of land in Pennsylvania and New York, became a congressman, promoted public service, established a financial and political family, and founded Cooperstown, NY, which became the boyhood home of James William Cooper. It appeared as though the Cooper family could expect to leave a powerful legacy. Fate though was waiting to strike.
Meanwhile, the Cooper children enjoyed a life in upstate New York. James and his brothers searched what was then a frontier village. The boys were aroused by the environment of forests and mountains. The passion for the wilderness which developed in the wandering lads prompted their sister Hannah to write, They are very wild and show plainly they have been bred in the woods. It was here in the Hudson River region that James became acquainted with the Indians of central New York state, the art of wilderness survival, the game-bearing Hawkeye prototype who, along with his long rifle and canine companions, visited the Cooper home, and the settlers whose wasteful tendencies disturbed the youth who had fallen in love with the natural beauty of the surrounding wilderness. The future author developed his work regarding the very things that would later serve as central themes of The Last of the Mohicans.
Cooper attended Yale from 1803 to 1805, a stay that was cut short by the schools invitation that he leave. It was possible that he would have gone instead to Princeton had his older brother not been expelled in 1802 due to his being the most likely culprit in the burning of Nassau Hall. Mischievous behavior has been a family trait. Though James is not known to have burned down any buildings at Yale, the schools request for his leaving was the result of a series of pranks and violent problems. Hannah was the good one out of the family. Hannah, the pride of the family, died in 1798 of injuries from falling off a horse.
Perhaps this loss, along with the events surrounding the capture and murder of Jane McRae, influenced Coopers creation of Cora and Alice. Nine years later, in 1809, Coopers father died. The death of him was horrible. During the years 1813 to 1819, Cooper lost four brothers to tragic deaths. This period of sorrow was yet more hardship for those who were left.
Financial ruin began in 1817 and continued through 1823, virtually wiping out the holdings of the Coopers. Their wealth left away as a series of judgments against the estate with the poor management by the surviving brothers who in turn acted as executors, all took their toll. Only James and his sister were left, the survivors of a family whose fortune was turned into misfortune. The resulting void was painfully felt by James and soon became a key factor in his life, one which would relate his thoughts and later, his novels. Despite the tragedies, Cooper was in total ruin through the accidental discovery of his literary talents. This new twist of fate couldnt have come at a better time.
To what was left of the family's possessions, Cooper also inherited the huge debt that accompanied it. Faced with the demands of creditors and having very little income, the gentleman farmer had the good luck of reading a bad book. His dislike of the novel so irritated him that he could prove to his wife that he could do better. Her response was that he should prove it, and consequently, James Cooper, at the age of thirty, embarked a successful literary career.
James Coopers first book, Precaution, was a failure. His second, The Spy, was published a year later (1821) and fortunately for James became an instant success. Published both in the U. S.
and Europe, it was the first of a long line of both fiction and non-fiction that brought Cooper fame and respect. Though his books were printed in English, French, and German, were adapted for the stage, and reprinted as new editions, Cooper was unable to escape the strangling debt. His output was the result of a pace of book after book, a pace which was taking its toll on Coopers health. Early in his career, Cooper enjoyed popularity at home. His Leatherstocking Tales were especially well liked, each a continuation of the adventures of Natty Bumppo and the American frontier. It was the second book of the series that revealed Coopers preoccupation with the discontinuation of both a way of life &# 038; a family line; the tale being The Last of the Mohicans. 1826, the year of its publication, was when Cooper first used the name Fenimore as a legacy to his mother, whose maiden name he had now assumed.
He continued his career as a writer while he served as U. S. Consul at Lyons, France from 1826 to 1833. Upon his return to the U.
S. , Cooper began writing A Letter to His Countrymen, the first of several works in which Cooper expressed a criticism of American culture and his own views towards democracy and wealth. The book was published in 1834 and immediately released a furor in the press. Coopers name appeared in newspaper editorials almost daily as a villain who thought to undermine democracy. James Fenimore Cooper soon found himself spending an amount of time in courthouses defending himself against what he saw as libelous allegations. While many people were mistaken with Coopers style, it must be remembered that he and his works were products of their own time.
European authors have held a favorable view of Coopers talent while Americans have been more critical. (D. H. Lawrence and Joseph Conrad have held him in high regard, while Mark Twain ridiculed his character development. ) However one asset of Coopers skills should at least be recognized that he was brilliant. An avid reader, he had an appetite for knowledge and a strong desire to share what he knew with his readers. This hunger is revealed at times in the dialogue of his characters as well as in his usage of footnotes.
Cooper spent his later years in Cooperstown, where he continued writing until a few years prior to his death. Perhaps the return to his boyhood home where he first experienced his love for the wilderness was an attempt to find peace and tranquility in a world that Cooper saw slipping away. James Fenimore Cooper died on September 14, 1851 at his home, one day before his 62 nd birthday. The first great American novelist, a man who had social issues that were as relevant today as they were 150 years ago, had left his mark upon American culture &# 038; his literary development.
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Research essay sample on James Fenimore Cooper American Novelist
