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Catherine Sedgwick's Hope Leslie: Scene Analysis

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The scene I chose to close read is from Hope Leslie, which was written by Catherine Sedgwick and published in 1827. During this scene, Magawisca was retelling the story of the Pequod War from her perspective as a Native American to Everell, who was white. She described how the Europeans attacked the Pequods and how they killed several Natives. After Magawisca tells her version of the story, Sedgwick discussed how this affected Everell and his opinion about Native Americans. In this scene, Magawisca’s recollection of the Pequod War positively changed Everell’s perspective about Native Americans, established a deeper bond between Everell and Magawisca, and showed Sedgwick’s feelings of sympathy and admiration for the Natives. By Magawisca retelling …show more content…

When someone shares a personal experience or story with another person they normally grow closer because this establishes trust. Even though they grew up together, Magawisca must have trusted Everell a lot because this is most likely not a story she tells a lot of people. She was also taking a risk because he is European and therefore his views could have been the same as his parents when it came to the Native Americans. However, he was very open minded and cared about Magawisca’s story. According to Everell, Magawisca seemed “to embody nature’s best gifts, and her feelings to be the inspiration of heaven” (55). He starts to see that Magawisca truly represents some of the best traits a person can have. Everell learns just how strong, honest, and brave Magawisca really is. Magawisca’s feelings about the Pequod War were inspirational in its own way. Her experience inspired Everell to start to challenge what other colonists have told him about the Native Americans. Now Magawisca’s feelings and experience were a part of Everell. By Everell learning more about Magawisca and her experience as a Native American, their friendship grew because he now empathized with her and her

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