The Last of the Mohicans is set in upstate New York, in the area bordering Canada, during the French and Indian War in the mid- eighteenth century. The setting changes rapidly from one scene to another throughout the novel, moving from Fort Edward to the wilderness around Lake George to Fort William Henry to Indian settlements.
Protagonists
In The Last of the Mohicans, no single person can be identified as the protagonist, not even the actual last of the Mohicans, Uncas. It is rather the entire party of good characters. Duncan, Hawkeye, Cora, Alice, Uncas, Chingachgook and even David have all the characteristics of heroes. They are brave, practical, and very loyal. They face many hardships, yet remain determined and firm. They fight their enemies with courage and shrewdness and that is why the entire group of these brave men and women can be termed as the protagonists.
Antagonist
The antagonist is none other than Magua. He is determined to take revenge on Munro by marrying his daughter Cora and making her his wife. He is extremely courageous and, despite many setbacks, continues to attack the protagonists. He is a man who is not loyal to anybody. When he does pledge his loyalty to any side, it is purely for his own selfish reasons. He uses his remarkable oratory skills to whip up the passions of his people, but he does so in order to serve his own purposes.
Climax
The climax of The Last of the Mohicans occurs in Chapter 32. After a fierce battle in which the protagonists and the Delawares defeat Magua and the Hurons, Magua and two of his men escape with Cora and are tracked to the edge of a cliff. Cora refuses to continue on, and Magua demands that she choose between his wigwam and his knife. As he hesitantly raises the blade, Uncas leaps at him. Meanwhile, a Huron stabs Cora in the bosom, Uncas kills Cora's assailant before being killed by Magua. Magua leaps away, jumping from one cliff to another and mocking his enemies. He loses his step and nearly falls off one cliff, but manages to hang onto a shrub on its edge. Just as he is recovering, however, Hawkeye raises the muzzle of his gun and shoots Magua, who slips to his death.
Outcome
The outcome is tragic, for although the treacherous Magua is vanquished by Hawkeye, both Cora and Uncas die. Cora is killed by her assailant and Uncas, the last of the Mohicans, is killed by the evil Magua.
PLOT (Synopsis)
The Last of the Mohicans is an action packed, romantic and adventurous drama, set during the peak of the French and Indian War in America. The English had managed to vanquish most of the native Indians, but there were still some tribes who attempted to maintain their independence. After setting the scene, Cooper begins the story proper. Cora and Alice, Commander Munro's daughters, are escorted by Major Duncan Heyward out of Fort Edward to visit their father at Fort William Henry. An Indian runner, Magua, acts as their guide, but treacherously leads them onto the wrong path. He wishes to capture the women and make one of them, Cora, his wife, in order to get revenge on Munro, who had previously mistreated him. In the course of their journey, they meet David Gamut, Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas, the latter two being the only two survivors of the Mohican tribe. When Hawkeye identifies Magua as a possible traitor, Magua escapes into the forest. The party realizes that Magua will seek out his companions and search for them, and from then, the chase is on.
The entire plot then revolves around the clash between these two parties. The chase continues through picturesquely described forests, swirling waters, caves, and Indian villages. Magua chases the group and captures Duncan, Cora, Alice, and David. Uncas, Chingachgook, and Hawkeye rescue them and later unite the girls with their father. They then face the danger of the French, who have captured Fort William Henry. When the English women and children are being taken to safety, Magua strikes again. He kills all the women and children except Cora and Alice, whom he captures, along with David, who had been acting as their escort.
The men track Magua to a Huron settlement, where they find David. He is a prisoner of the Indians, but is allowed to wander freely as he is considered insane and harmless due to his continual singing of hymns. David leads Duncan to the village where Alice is imprisoned. She is supposed to marry an Indian brave, but is saved by Major Heyward, who dons Indian paint to disguise himself. Both are rescued by Hawkeye, who disguises himself as a bear. Duncan and Hawkeye tie up Magua and escape with Alice. After helping Duncan and Alice flee, Hawkeye returns to the village and with the help of David, rescues Uncas.
In the meantime, another Indian group, a village of Delawares, is holding Cora captive. Uncas and Hawkeye go to rescue her, but are captured. Magua goes to the tribe to retrieve the prisoners. His plans to capture Hawkeye and Uncas are foiled when it is revealed that Uncas is the last of the Mohicans and a lost chief of the tribe, but since by the laws of the tribe Cora is truly Magua's captive, he is allowed to take her away.
The Delawares and the protagonists, now joined by Munro and Chingachgook, follow, and a fierce battle ensues between them and the Hurons, whom they defeat. Magua escapes, but is trailed by Uncas, Hawkeye, David, and Duncan. Near a large cliff, Magua asks Cora to choose between being his wife and being killed by his knife. At this moment, Uncas manages to catch up with them. As Magua is momentarily distracted by Uncas, his companion stabs Cora. Uncas kills her assailant but is in turn stabbed and killed by Magua.
Hawkeye chases Magua, who leaps from one cliff to another. He soon misses his step and slips, but manages to clutch on to a shrub. Hawkeye shoots Magua, who falls to his death.
The next day the dead are mourned and praised, and Cora and Uncas are buried in an elaborate ceremony. Hawkeye tells Chingachgook that he is not alone, for he is still there with him. Tamenund laments the decline of the Indians and the death of the last of the Mohicans.
PLOT (Structure)
The Last of the Mohicans, written by James Fenimore Cooper, does not have a traditional plot structure, as the plot revolves around action. None of the characters are developed, for the tale is action-oriented.
In this novel, Cooper brings in his two favorite characters from the Leatherstocking tales, Natty Bumppo (Hawkeye) and Chingachgook, to play major roles in the book. However, both these characters are merely a part of the adventure saga and do not have the plot revolving around them. Uncas, the man after whom the book is named, also fits into the story as part of the action, though, again, he is not the center of the tale. Although the characters are brave and virtuous, they are not epic heroes, but ordinary mortals involved in an adventure saga. Action is the essence of the novel and the characters are merely incidental.
The plot is woven into a unique structure, in which there is spiraling action leading to a dramatic resolution, followed by a brief period of calm, after which the same chain of events takes place all over again. The action spreads over a number of chapters, culminating in a breathtaking climax in the penultimate chapter. The suspense is almost unbearable as it spirals to its zenith point, and then there is a brief respite comprising essentially of a single chapter describing the calm.
There are three progressive series of action or "chases" in the novel. The first starts almost from the Chapter 1 and builds through Chapter 11. The protagonists discover Magua's treachery and make a desperate attempt to escape from him and his associates. Cora, Alice and Duncan are captured, however. The climax of this chase takes place in Chapter 11, when Hawkeye and Uncas begin their rescue. This is followed by a period of strange calm. The second progressive action encompasses Magua's capture of Cora and Alice in Chapter 17 and continues through Chapter 25, when Alice is rescued. Peace takes place in Chapter 26. Chapter 27 deals again with the kidnapping of Cora, which leads to the climax in Chapter 32, in which both Cora and Uncas die. This definitively concludes the action.
THEMES
Major Theme
Heroism is the main theme of this book. In the native, wild, virginal country of America, where life is uncertain at all times, the characters stand out for their inherent bravery. Nearly all of the members of the group display astonishing levels of bravery in spite of all the hardships that they face.
Duncan Heyward acts as the protector of the women in their journey to meet their father. When he is urged by Cora to leave after the gunpowder has run out, he refuses and stays back with her and Alice. When the Hurons later trap him, he fights like a caged animal. Throughout the saga, he displays amazing levels of bravery, whether in the battles with the Hurons or protecting the women. When Uncas is trapped, he rushes to help him without giving any thought to his own life.
Hawkeye is more practical but nonetheless brave. He offers to lead the girls to their father and stays on till the very end to protect their lives. He stays calm when their gunpowder runs out, even though he knows that the Hurons will soon attack. At Cora's request, he leaves, not to flee but to get more gunpowder and possibly help. At every turn of the book, when Magua kidnaps some member of the group, Hawkeye immediately rushes to help. He also uses disguise to achieve his objective. For instance, he dresses as a bear when he goes to rescue Uncas from the Hurons.
Cora shines through as brave and courageous. She continually defies Magua and acts cool-headedly throughout the novel. She is admired for her actions by both Hawkeye and Uncas. While Alice often seems to have little to do but faint and be rescued, she does deal with her circumstances as best as she can within the confines of her role.
David Gamut displays bravery too, although for much of the book he is an object of ridicule. He takes the place of Uncas when the latter is being held prisoner and later takes part in the battle against the Hurons.
Chingachgook, though old, supports Hawkeye throughout the book. He too displays courage through the various clashes with the Hurons. But his heroism stands out especially in the last chapter of the book. Although he loses his son Uncas, he bears the loss with dignity and courage.
Uncas displays extreme courage throughout the novel, whether in battle or in rescuing the women. He looses his life trying to save Cora, but does so with such courage that the reader cannot help but marvel at his heroism.
In the hard frontier life that Cooper depicts, bravery appears as a matter of course. Men such as Hawkeye stand out as superheroes, and women such as Cora can boast of being made of the same mettle and strength.
Minor Theme
James Fenimore Cooper has woven the theme of romanticism into The Last of the Mohicans at several levels. In his description of the land, Cooper displays the spirit of a lover. Reams and reams of space have been filled in his book by his special love for the extraordinarily hard but beautiful life of the frontier. Indeed, Cooper so romanticizes this hard frontier life that it seems that the brutal destruction and killing of men does not hamper, but, in fact, enhances the joy of living this kind of life.
Romance among the characters also infuses a kind of subtle spirit to the general feeling of the book. Rather than emphasizing this aspect, however, Cooper willingly underplays it, teasing the reader with "wistful looks" and "longing sighs." While the feelings that Duncan and Alice have for each other are eventually made explicit, the relationships between the other characters are especially subtle. The reader can actually sense Uncas being drawn to Cora, or even Magua's strange and harsh desire for Cora. Indeed, Magua and Cora's relationship can almost termed as some kind of magnetic attraction, in which the players are equally attracted and repulsed.
Romanticism is a special theme added to enhance the ambience (atmosphere) of the book. It gives a very soft yet subtle touch to the happenings. Yet the undercurrents felt throughout the book are almost crackling with pent-up desires and longings. Between Cora and Uncas, this tension is most apparent. There is a vast difference in their backgrounds, yet there is a unique bond that brings them closer together. In life they cannot fulfill the spirit of romanticism -- nor the fictional conventions of the day -- but in death they bridge the gap.
STYLE
James Fenimore Cooper's style of writing is very picturesque. His language is vivid and straightforward without any overuse of similes or metaphors. His colorful descriptions add to the varied hues in The Last of the Mohicans. Cooper also has a very keen eye for detail.
In the beginning of the book, Cooper starts out describing the characters in the third person and at a distance. He even delays in giving their names. As the book a progress, the author starts addressing his characters more familiarly.
Cooper's style of writing is direct, almost as if he is addressing or talking to the readers personally. Though Cooper's language is very simple and direct without any obvious symbolism, his sentences are generally long. They are usually very descriptive, filled with adjectives and adverbs, creating definite visual imagery throughout the novel.
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