With a dead mother and an absent father, Hiawatha has a challenging family life to say the least. Let's not forget that he actually tries to kill his father after finding out that the guy is responsible for his mother's death. Yet, in The Song of Hiawatha Longfellow treats family as an important part of life. Ideally, a person can treat everyone in their neighborhood as family. But Longfellow also knows that this might be asking too much of most people. At the end of the day, the men in this poem tend to treat family as a parent-child relationship where the parent thinks of the child as a possession that they can be proud of. That's the case both for young men like Hiawatha and young women like Minnehaha.
Questions About Family
- What's the overall impression (good or bad) that this poem gives of the concept of family? What evidence can you use to support your answer?
- How would you describe Hiawatha's relationship to his father? How does their battle end and why?
- Who is the best family role model in Hiawatha's life? Why?
- Who warns Wenonah against listening to Mudjekeewis' seductions? Why doesn't Wenonah listen and what happens as a result?
Chew on This
The Song of Hiawatha shows us that it's more natural for us to fight with our families than to get along with them. (Feeling better now?)
The Song of Hiawatha reminds us that there's no stronger connection than blood. (Feeling worse?)