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. Its narrative flaws were criticized from the start, and its length and elaborately formal prose style have reduced its appeal to later readers. (Mark Twain, in particular, was critical of the author's style: "Cooper’s art has some defects. In one place in ‘Deerslayer,’ and in the restricted space of two-thirds of a page, Cooper has scored 114 offences against literary art out of a possible 115. It breaks the record.") Regardless, The Last of the Mohicans is widely read in American literature courses. This second book of the Leatherstocking Tales pentalogy is the best known. The Pathfinder, written 14 years later in 1840, is its sequel.[1]
Cooper named a principal character Uncas after a real person. 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.[2] The writer was not aware that Mohegans still existed then, as they do to the present day.
The story takes place in 1757 during the Seven Years' War (known in America as the French and Indian War), when France and Great Britain battled for control of the North American 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 introduction
The story is set in the British province of New York during the French and Indian War, and concerns--in part--a Huron massacre (with passive French acquiescence) of between 500 to 1,500 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 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".[3]
Characters
- Magua (ma-gwah)– the villain of the piece; a Huron chief driven from his tribe for drunkenness and later whipped by the British Army (also for drunkenness), for which he blames Colonel Munro. Also known as "Sly Fox."
- Chingachgook – last chief of the Mohican tribe; escort to the traveling Munro sisters, father to Uncas. Also has the Indian name of "Great Snake".
- Uncas – the son of Chingachgook and the titular "Last of the Mohicans" (meaning, the last pure-blooded Mohican born).[4]
- "Natty" Nathaniel Bumppo, known as "Hawkeye" – the "American hero" and escort to the Munro sisters, long-time friend of Chingachgook. Also known to the Indians and the French as "La Longue Carabine" on account of his long rifle and shooting skills.
- Cora Munro – dark-haired daughter of Colonel Munro; her mother (who died young) was half-white half-black, which means that Cora is a quadroon. The Huron chief Magua takes a liking for her and wants to make her his wife. Later in the book Cora meets her end by the knife of one of Magua's men
- Alice Munro – Cora's younger, blond half-sister.
- Colonel Munro – the sisters' father, a British army colonel in command of Fort William Henry.
- Duncan Heyward – a British army major from Virginia who falls in love with Alice Munro.[5]
- David Gamut – a psalmodist (teacher of psalm singing) also known as "the singing master" due to the fact that he sang for every event.
- General Daniel Webb – Colonel Munro's commanding officer, originally stationed at Albany, who later takes command at Fort Edward (from where he cannot or will not come to Colonel Munro's aid when Fort William Henry is besieged by the French).
- General Marquis de Montcalm – the French commander-in-chief, referred to by the Hurons and other Indian allies of the French as "The great white father of the Canadas".
- Tamenund – An ancient, wise, and revered Delaware Indian sage who has outlived three generations of warriors. He is the "Sachem" of the Delaware.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
A number of films have been based on the lengthy book, with numerous cuts, compressions, and distortions occurring in the story. The adaptations include The Last of the Mohicans (1920), starring Wallace Beery, The Last of the Mohicans (1932), starring Harry Carey, The Last of the Mohicans (1936), starring Randolph Scott, and The Last of the Mohicans (1992), starring Daniel Day-Lewis. The 1920 film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. The 1992 version, directed by Michael Mann, was (according to Mann) based more on the 1936 film version than on Cooper's book. Many of the scenes from the 1992 movie did not follow the book; in particular, some characters who survive the events of the novel die in the film, and vice versa. Nevertheless, the stunning vistas in Mann's film, as well as the large number of extras and dramatic visual effects make his movie exceptionally memorable.
There was a Canadian-produced TV series, Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans in 1957 with Lon Chaney, Jr..
The British Broadcasting Corporation made an eight chapter TV serial of the book in 1971, which had notable performances from Philip Madoc as "Magua", Kenneth Ives as "Hawkeye", John Abineri as "Chingachgook" and Patricia Maynard as "Cora Munro". This serial popularized the term "Mohican hairstyle" in Britain for what is known as a Mohawk hairstyle in the US, although this hairstyle was actually worn by the Hurons, not the Mohicans, in the serial. This production is now available on DVD, distributed by Acorn Media UK.
The usual deletions from cinematic versions of The Last of the Mohicans are the extensive sections about the Indians themselves, thus confounding Cooper's purpose. Further, romantic relationships, non-existent or minimal in the novel, are generated between the principal characters, and the roles of some characters are reversed or altered, as are the events.
In 1977, Lake George Opera presented an opera version The Last of the Mohicans by composer Alva Henderson.[6]
In 2004, an animated TV series version (originally named L'ultimo dei Mohicani) was produced by MondoTV and RaiFiction in association with The Animation Band and Studio Sek, consisting of twenty-six episodes. The series was directed by Giuseppe Laganà, with Screenplay by Paolo Morales and Lucia Zei, the music composed by Angelo Poggi and Giovanni Cera in Cartoon Family, and the voice artists as follows:
- Andrea Ward as Hawkeye
- Marco Vivio as Uncas
- Ambrogio Colombo as Chingachgook
- Oliviero Dinelli as Gamut
- Barbara Pitotti as Cora
- Emanuela D'Amico as Alice
- Alessandro Vanni as Duncan
- Achille D'Aniello as Magua
Literary reworkings
Marvel Comics has published two versions of the story: in 1976 a one-issue version as part of their Marvel Classics Comics series (issue #13); and in 2007 a six-issue mini-series to start off the new Marvel Illustrated series..
Footnotes
- ^ Cf. the Leatherstocking Tales for a chart showing both the chronological order and the order of publication of the five novels.
- ^ Oberg, pg. 7
- ^ Last of the Mohicans (1968 paperback edition), Chapter 33, pg. 600
- ^ "Uncas will be the last pure-blooded Mohican because there are no pure-blooded Mohican women for him to marry." University of Houston study guide
- ^ "My request, as you know, sir, went so far as to presume to the honor of being your son" ... "And to marry whom, then, did you wish my consent, Major Heyward?" demanded the old soldier, "You have another and not less lovely child." "Alice!" exclaimed the father, in an astonishment equal to that with which Duncan had just repeated the name of her sister. "Such was the direction of my wishes, sir" {from Chapter XVI in James Fenimore Cooper, Works of J. Fenimore Cooper, 10 vols., (New York: P.F. Collier, Pub., 1892) 2:95}. See also the James Fenimore Cooper Society's plot summary for The Last of the Mohicans at the paragraph beginning with the chapter number: [16] [1].
- ^ Welcome to Lake George Opera of Saratoga, New York
References
External links
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