Herland: Motifs 1 key example

The simile is supposed to convey something about the men's posture and stealth. They believe they are navigating the forest as secretly and expertly as Indigenous people stereotypically do. There is humor in the comparison because, as they soon find out, the Herlandians have been tracking them the entire time. On a deeper level, the simile reveals Indigenous identity as something Van (and Gilman) like to try on when it is convenient while also maintaining a distinctly white, so-called "civilized" identity. If Van, Jeff, and Terry are "like so many creeping savages," it is clear that they are nonetheless not "creeping savages." Whenever the motif comes up, the men use the slur "savage" to describe Indigenous people, revealing that they believe in a clear racial hierarchy with white people at the top.

Gilman seems to believe in this same racial hierarchy, and she uses it to make her point about the Herlandians. The men expect to find a community of "savages" in Herland. Instead, what they find is a well-organized society of women who Van, the sociologist, insists must have descended from white ancestors. Just as Van compares himself and his friends to Indigenous people in part to highlight their own distance from Indigenous identity, Gilman also positions the Herlandians in geographical proximity to Indigenous societies in South America so that she can demonstrate that women are able to create a supposedly "civilized" society. Casual racism like this was common in many feminist arguments in the early 20th century, as white women sought to prove to white men that they were a group worth elevating and empowering. Gilman makes some attempt to represent the women as varied in skin tone and phenotype, but she nonetheless links their success to the idea that, for all intents and purposes, they are white.