Paper Proposal

“Monarch of the day”: Epistemology, Imperialism, Literacy and Light

In Lydia Maria Child’s Hobomok

The star, which had arisen in Bethlehem, had never gleamed along his path; and the dark valley of the shadow of death had never been illuminated with the brightness of revealed truth. But though the intellect be darkened, there are rays from God’s own throne . . . Philosophy had never held up her shield against the sun, and then placed her dim taper in his hand . . . but there was a voice loud and distinct, which spoke to him of another world . . . He had never read of God, but he had heard his chariot wheels in the distant thunder. (Child 33–34)

Lydia Maria Child’s first novel, Hobomok (1824), has been generously discussed in the literary field, especially regarding its stance on patriarchy, women, and miscegenation, and often in comparison to Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans and Sedgwick’s Hope Leslie. All three novels, especially, address the future of the Native American Indians. This paper will approach the issue of American and Native American identity from a new angle: that of epistemology and literacy.

In Hobomok, Child’s uses the symbolism of light to address several kinds of “knowing,” or epistemology. The Sun represents the original source of truth which shines on all people. The second light is the moon, which provides light from the sun reflected off of another natural object. Child consistently associates the moon and moonlight with human arts and culture, particularly as found in King Charles “fairy” court which Mary so longs for, and Hobomok own mythic rituals (48–9). The third light is the kind reflected off of manmade metal objects: the “ever changing” human doctrines (58). A fourth type of light or knowledge is embodied in manmade fire or flame, which may be passed from generation to generation through education, or die out, as the American Indian race is prophesied to by Corbitant (31). Each of the symbolic luminaries provides a way for us, as American readers, to consider how we know what we do. Child also argues in her narrative that despite religious and cultural differences, there is one type of transcendental, universal truth which all humans have access to. This Romantic/Transcendental epistemology holds bearing on the novel’s representation of literacy.

In addition to using the symbolism of light to discuss epistemology, Child also correlates certain types of knowledge with literacy and race. Europeans have clearly read the words of God and texts of human doctrines, while the American Indians depend upon verbal/oral communication to preserve their culture. In Hobomok, Child draws attention to the oral/auditory knowledge of the American Indians, utilizing it as a buttress both for her development of an American literary identity as well as Transcendental/Romantic ideology about nature.

This paper will consider Child’s portrayal of American Indians in Hobomok by examining the symbolism of light as a representation of epistemology and literacy. By investigating this symbolic system, we will come to see how Child uses a romantic/ transcendental portrayal of the Indian to promote imperialism and a new American religion.

Works Cited

Child, Lydia Maria. Hobomok and Other Writings on Indians. Ed. Carolyn Karcher. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1986.