Last of the Mohicans
Author: James Fenimore Cooper
Date Written & Published: 1826 (Carey & Lea of Philadelphia)
Genre(s): sentimental novel, frontier novel, romance
Setting: American wilderness/frontier/upstate NY, Lake George area
Main Characters:
Natty Bumppo, aka Hawkeye (scout): Hawkeye is his nickname/adopted name; his given name is Natty Bumppo. His special “long rifle” is named Killdeer, La Longue Carabine, or The Long Rifle. He is very close with Chingachgook and Uncas, but he frequently asserts that he is “a man without a cross,” meaning that he has no Indian blood. He’s a hybrid character with connections to both White and Red worlds and cultures.
Chingachgook, aka Le Gros Serpent or The Great Snake: One of the two remaining Mohicans, and Natty’s close friend.
Uncas: Chingachgook’s son, the “last of the Mohicans.” Uncas is Cora’s love interest and Natty’s surrogate son. He’s noble and honorable.
Cora Munro: The eldest daughter of the commander of the British troops at Fort William Henry and a part-Black West Indian woman. She is physically dark and emotionally solemn and noble. Cora falls in love with Uncas and “suffers the tragic fate of the sentimental heroine” [s].
Alice Munro: Cora’s younger half-sister, who is blonde and fair, feminine and more weakly constituted than Cora. She faints frequently and falls in love with Heyward
Major Duncan Heyword: “A young American colonist from the South who has risen to the rank of major in the English army. Courageous, well-meaning, and noble, Heyward often finds himself out of place in the forest, thwarted by his lack of knowledge about the frontier and Indian relations. Heyward’s unfamiliarity with the land sometimes creates problems for Hawkeye, the dexterous woodsman and leader.” [s]
Magua, aka Le Renard Subtil, or the Subtle Fox: the novel’s villain, a Huron Indian, who was once a chief but was driven from his tribe for drunkenness, etc. He wants revenge on Colonel Munro for enforcing his rejection from his tribe, so he tries to kidnap and marry Alice.
David Gamut: A psalmist and Calvinist who wants to spread Christianity throughout the frontier. He is awkward and out of place in the wilderness, but he eventually becomes very valuable and helpful to Natty.
General Montcalm - Marquis Louis Joseph de Saint-Veran, known as Montcalm, is the commander of the French forces fighting against England during the French and Indian War. He enlists the aid and knowledge of Indian tribes to help his French forces navigate the unfamiliar forest combat setting. After capturing Fort William Henry, though, he is powerless to prevent the Indian massacre of the English troops. [s]
Tamenund - An ancient, wise, and revered Delaware Indian sage who has outlived three generations of warriors. [s]
General Webb - The commander of the British forces at Fort Edward. [s]
Themes: founding of nation; war; hybridity; family; wilderness. . .
Key Facts from [s]
narrator • Anonymous
point of view • Third person. The narrator follows the actions of several characters at once, especially during combat scenes. He describes characters objectively but periodically makes reference to his own writing.
tone • Ornate, solemn, sentimental, occasionally poetic
tense • Past
setting (time) • Several days from late July to mid-August 1757, during the French and Indian War
setting (place) • The American wilderness frontier in what will become New York State.
protagonist • Hawkeye
major conflict • The English battle the French and their Indian allies; Uncas helps his English friends resist Magua and the Hurons.
rising action • Magua captures Cora and Alice, beginning a series of adventures for the English characters, who try to rescue the women.
climax • Uncas triumphs over Magua in the Delaware council of Tamenund in Chapter XXX.
falling action • Magua dies; Cora and Uncas are torn apart.
themes • The consequences of interracial love and friendship; literal and metaphorical nature; the role of religion in the wilderness; the changing idea of family
motifs • Hybridity; disguise; inheritance
symbols • Hawkeye; “the last of the Mohicans”
foreshadowing • Cora’s unexpected attraction to Magua in Chapter I; Magua’s deceit in Chapter I; Chingachgook’s reference to Uncas as the “last of the Mohicans” in Chapter II.
Note: all passages marked with [s] are from sparknotes.com
