Everything about The Last Of The Mohicans totally explained
The Last of the Mohicans is a
historical novel by
James Fenimore Cooper, first published in January 1826.
It was one of the most popular English-language novels of its time, and helped establish Cooper as one of the first world-famous American writers. Its narrative flaws were criticized from the start, and its length and elaborately formal prose style have reduced its appeal to later readers. Regardless,
The Last of the Mohicans remains on the
syllabi of most
American literature courses. It is the best known of the
Leatherstocking Tales, and Cooper wrote his novel as a sequel to it.
Cooper named a principal character Uncas after the most famous of the
Mohegans. The real
Uncas lived in the colony of Connecticut in the mid seventeenth century, and not in the New York frontier a century later. Uncas was a Mohegan, not a
Mohican, and Cooper's usage has helped to confuse the names of two tribes to the present day. When John Uncas, his last surviving male descendant died in 1842, the Newark Daily Advertiser wrote "Last of the Mohegans Gone" lamenting the extinction of the tribe. He wasn't aware that Mohegans still existed then and to the present day.
The story takes place in 1757 during the
French and Indian War, when
France and the
Kingdom of Great Britain battled for control of the American and Canadian colonies. During this war, the French often allied themselves with
Native American tribes in order to gain an advantage over the British, with unpredictable and often tragic results.
Plot
Mohicans was the second book by Cooper, following
Pioneers in 1823, to feature the pioneer
Nathaniel ("Natty") Bumppo, who is known variously throughout
The Leatherstocking Tales as "Deerslayer", "Hawkeye", "Pathfinder", "Leatherstocking", etc., or simply as "The Scout."
The story is set in the British
province of New York during the
French and Indian War, and concerns a
Huron massacre (with passive French acquiescence) of from 500 to 1,500 unarmed Anglo-American troops, who had honorably surrendered at
Fort William Henry, plus some women and servants; the kidnapping of two sisters, daughters of the British commander; and their rescue by Hawkeye, the last two Mohicans, and others. Parts of the story may have been derived from the capture and death of
Jane McCrea in July 1777 near Fort Edward, New York, by members of an
Algonquian tribe.
The title of the book comes from a quote by
Tamanend, "I have lived to see the last warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans".
Characters
