James Cooper Fenimore was recognized for his imagery of realism depicting the Revolutionary war, ethnicity and American exploration of the west. This alienated him from other writers at the time, who never took upon these images, such as the war, into a published book. With these ideas he created his best work such as, The Pioneers, The Last of the Mohicans, and The Spy, which was his most successful book written.

His imagery focused on American issues allowing readers to live in the situations that were going on during that time period. The reason why The Spy was so successful was do to the fact that many of the people did not want to believe that spies actually existed during the war. His imagery informed and interested readers with the facts about what is being kept ignored.

            Fenimore is known for his luxuriant imagery for each of his books, especially in The Pioneers where he draws in his readers by using a quote at the beginning of each chapter to entice the reader to wonder what was going to happen next. He painted the pictures of the locations and characters with his words. He was acknowledge for his use of imagery for it allowed the reader to fall right into the book.

            In the Pioneers he used a large paragraph to describe the way the Indians looked and how their yellow pigment contrasted with the dark shades of their hair. He used such specific detail that it was hard for someone to try and create a different image as to what he was trying to portray. This is why many believe he was responsible for allowing the public to realize that the Indians were indeed humans and not what they have been perceived as savages. His imagery allowed the ethnicity of the world to be viewed opposite as to what society had seen them before.

            Fenimore saw the beauty in them and allowed that to influence his writing. The imagery only allowed his work to be viewed with respect and admiration. The way Fenimore describes a scene is immensely creative by using artistic adjectives to give his imagery a more intense meaning. In another one of Fenimore’s classics The Last of the Mohicans, he uses description such as “country which lies between the head of waters of the Hudson and the adjacent lakes”.

            Fenimore believed there was an essential problem with the American society at that time having to do with how the amendment rights were not being fair to all races. He took his experiences through life to create the images he used in the books he wrote and allowed them to express a different meaning towards the alienated people of the United States. This was the reason for why he used such deep imagery, only to convince to the readers that all people in America are just the same as you and I.

            Fenimore used to be a sailor and he traveled to many places. To create what he saw and felt during his adventures, he used his experiences into the novels to create a new story. This is how he was able, and why he wanted to make, each statement overflow with vivid imagery. He used such imagery in the novel the Pilot. All of his novels contained this detailed of imagery due to his life adventures and imagination. He enjoyed setting the scene with images written through his words to create a joyful read within each of his books.