Land and Culture- Deanna Farber Blog Post

The themes in this book are mostly about the land without a doubt. While I though the deer was a very obvious symbol for rights to the land I felt that the more of a character a person was and the less of caricature that they were the more rights they had to the land. The more serious, deep characters, like Natty and Indian John had more of a natural right to the land. Then there was Marmaduke Temple who tried to be taken seriously but did not always gain that respect from his peers. While the way he received the land might not have obtained it in the usual way, but he did have more of a right to the land than the characters who were definitely caricatures. 

Despite Cooper’s clear attempt to show who the more honest characters and rightful land owner was, it was shocking to see Natty leave because he was basically forced out of his home. I think it’s wishful thinking to hope that somehow history could change and the settlers wouldn’t come in and remove all these people from their homes by building on the land. Sadly history can’t change and I think this book is just a reminder of the damage caused by settlers when they arrived. However, the settlers probably had no realization of what they were doing. Natty for example, was offered a role in this community and they thought they were doing him good. They didn’t really have the sense of preserving culture that we understand today. The United States was founded by so many different countries that they were just beginning to build their culture, so it must have been hard for them to understand why someone else wouldn’t want to join in their journey of becoming who Americans were eventually shaped to be.