The Water-Snake
Tom Hutter is directly transformed into a metaphor in a conversations between two Indians as part of the larger subject of trusting white men like Hawkeye. Just before the characterization of Hutter as a snake comfortable in the water and on land, he is also rejected as being either white or red. Hutter is viewed as a separate entity entirely and although the speakers are not directly making a connection to the serpent in the Garden of Eve, the metaphorical symbolism is inherent and obvious. As a snake who preys on others regardless of whether he is on land or sea, he is not to be trusted anywhere
The Ark
The Biblical symbolism of the Hutter ark is more straightforward. Hutter’s ark is even cast a floating home made necessary by the destruction of his castle. As a metaphor, however, the symbolism may be misleading. The natural assumption is that this symbolism would situate Hutter as a Moses figures, but left to his own devices, he would lead his entire family not to salvation and rebirth, but to the same obscene death he suffers. The ark, in this case, is metaphor as irony.
"Natur will have its way"
Hawkeye is here discussing the “uncommon movement” on the way; probably a fish leaping through the surface. Hawkeye takes this opportunity to warn Judith of the futility of fighting against what nature sets in store for a creature by trying to get out of that element which defines it. This is part of a much larger extended metaphor running throughout the entire series as well as this book which touches upon the attempts to tame the wilderness to man’s expectations in general as well as specifically relating to Hawkeye’s awareness that his place is out there in the wilderness.
"helpless a brute beast"
Part of Hawkeye’s nature that he comes to realize it is futile to fight against is his independence. Judith is very much intent on tempting him out of that nature and into a more civilized existence totally at odds with everything that makes him who is and though he may briefly toy with the idea, he fairly early on engages in a “soliloquy” which establishes his view toward the pitfalls of falling in love. To do so makes a man helpless and vulnerable as he becomes as lacking in reason and the ability to calculate the odds as a dumb brute animal. This is a guiding characteristic of Hawkeye and will follow him at every stop along his journey through the Leatherstocking Tales. The comparison is not just simple pondering, but a working out of a philosophical approach to life. The loss of reason and calculation can cost a life in the blink of an eye in the wild.
The Scarlet Coat
Hutter’s slippery character, the importance of letting nature have its way and the attempted seduction by Judith all converge in what may well be the novel’s singularly resonant metaphor: the scarlet coat inside the chest containing Hutter’s “hidden treasures.” The coat is a metaphor for Judith’s certainty that appearances are everything; she is a vain woman given to placing too much emphasis upon meaningless artifice. At the same time, its luxurious quality is also intended to help along her seduction of Hawkeye. Ultimately, however, the scarlet coat does little but point up once again how Hutter is unprepared to try his hand at taming the wild for such base economic motives.
