Hope Leslie constructs a dialogue concern ing not only Sedgwick's neglected position in the canon, but also what most critics agree to be her unconventional portrayal of both women and Native American char acters. In fact, several critics have pointed out the manner in which Sedgwick's novel questions the repressive treatment of both women and Native Americans, 1 which leads to a question I hope to address: Does the novel negotiate race and gender within the context of domesticity in the same way, to the same ends? The novel's remarkable pref ace pushes race to the forefront, as it posi tions the narrative to challenge the dominant racist assumptions of nineteenth-century America by arguing that" the enlightened and accurate observer of human nature, will admit that the difference of character among the various races of the earth, arises mainly from difference of condition''(6). This statement assigns a bold mission for the novel, as it must contend with the discourses which produce the negative images of race which inform the literature of Sedgwick's period. Additionally, this preface introduces a complex preoccupation with language which this paper will explore, particularly in the crucial images the novel constructs for an" enlightened''reader, images bearing conflicting levels of signification. Several critics have praised Sedgwick's narrative for transcending racist and sexist notions, an assessment based largely upon the protagonist, who acts decisively and in dependently upon a Puritan power structure that not only marginalizes her, but treats Na tive Americans unjustly. However, a schism opens between what Sedgwick's narrator says and how Sedgwick's readers? today as well as in antebellum America? may read the actions and statements of the text's char acters. In effect, the novel's preface suggests a certain degree of faith that the" accurate" reader will fill this schism in a desirable man ner. Suzanne Gossett and Barbara Bardes pro vide the sort of reading which reveals how this schism opens largely out of discursive conditions during Sedgwick's time: