DeToqueville_ 895-907

Why does the author go to the Wilderness?

The reason why the author goes to the wilderness is that as he states when he is with the host, “There are many reason’s driving us to it, my dear host”. They are heading to Saginaw. I think they are searching for the interior of an untouched forest. (905) 

What does he think of White Americans?

As he is traveling through the wilderness, he is describing the nature and he believes that in a few years, the Europeans will come and destroy all of nature’s beauty, along with forcing out its inhabitants into the wilderness.

 What of Indian Americans?

He gets different opinions of them. Mr. Williams says that he would sleep more calmly among Indians than among whites. However, the author says that in the more populated areas, people speak of them “only with a blend of fear and scorn”, and the author believes that they deserve both of these opinions. An Indian the author encounters has white teeth, which proved to him that the savage had cleaner habits than the American neighborhood.  

What of the relationship between the different groups?

On page 899, the author describes how although the European and the Indian were born and raised in different places, they still manage to communicate and interact with one another. Also on page 905, it mentions the Indians and the white each have advantages in certain situations. The whites in socializing, but the Indians knew the forest like the palm of their hands. Both of these groups need of one another in life.  

How does he describe the wilderness and what impresses him?

 He describes the wilderness in detail. He says how magnificent Mother Nature is, but how destructive we as humans can be. Nature impresses him, he finds it fascinating how trees can grow for years and still produce and be of aid to other life.