The Real Life Noble Savages- Josh Williams

The Real Life Noble Savages

In class, we have been reading the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley.  Shelley tells the story of Victor Frankenstein and the monster he creates in his search for the secrets of life.  At the outset of his miserable life, the monster represents the idea of a noble savage.  Society had yet to leave its mark on him.  The monster therefore embodied all the inherently good qualities of man.  However, he soon became corrupted due to the societal rejection that he faced.  This concept of a noble savage is explained by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an enlightened philosopher, in The Social Contract.  Rousseau begins his book by proclaiming that “man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains” (Rousseau 1).  A noble savage is someone who is considered innocent because of their removal from society.  Often, authors show the deterioration of the morals of such characters as they become immersed in civilization.

This idea can be found not only in literature, but also throughout history.  Native Americans are an example of historical noble savages.  Indians inhabited in Americas for thousands of years before Europeans crossed the Atlantic.  During this time, they prospered and were peaceful except for minor conflicts among themselves.  They also had their own concepts of religion and the workings of the natural world.  They were therefore basically good and had yet to be corrupted.  This soon changed when Europeans began to settle the Americas.  Native Americans became riddled with diseases and involved in European conflicts, including the Seven Years War (the French and Indian War).

Another example of historical noble savages are Africans who were forced into slavery by nations in Europe and the Americas throughout much of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.  These Africans often lived isolated lives in the inland regions of Africa.  They were betrayed by their counterparts along the African coast who were financially rewarded for capturing and enslaving them by Europeans.  They were then carefully transported to the nations where they were to be enslaved.  Africans were further exploited by European nations that claimed territory in Africa to be under their rule in the late nineteenth century, including Belgium.  

It is significant to be able to understand how realistic the idea of a noble savage really is.  This concept provides insight for philosophers who have studied the ways of man.  It also confirms the works of many who have claimed that society corrupts, such as Rousseau.

  

  A Native American portrayed in The

 Death of General Wolfe; painted by

                 Benjamin West

Works Cited:

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, Immanuel Kant, and Voltaire. The social contract. Chicago: Great

Foundation, 1966. Print.

Shelley, Mary, Walter James Miller, and Harold Bloom. Frankenstein. New York: Signet Classics,       

2000. Print.