Last of the Mohicans: A Dying Generation
Last of the Mohicans: A Dying Generation The Last of the Mohicans is one of five novels in the Leatherstocking Series, all of whichwere written by James Fenimore Cooper. Cooper is known to be "one of the nineteenth century'smost popular story tellers" because he "presented a simpler, idealized view of America'swestward migration" (Charles 392). Cooper was a pioneer of American literature. Writingduring the early to mid 1800's, Cooper is said to have "originated the American historical noveland the tale of frontier life" (Haney 70). The Last of the Mohicans is categorized as a historicalromance because it incorporates the elements of a romance into the context of a historical event. Throughout the novel Cooper explores such broad subjects as heredity and how it affects therelationships between the characters. Also discussed in the novel are the interracial relationshipsbetween Indians and whites and how these relationships have caused many of the characters toloose a place in their culture and even brought entire races, such as the Mohican tribe, toextinction. Binary Oppositions, such as pure blood versus mixed blood, noble Indian versussavage Indian, and forest versus civilization are also apparent throughout t
After Heywardmakes several errors in judgment, all of which endanger the lives of his companions, Hawkeyewarns Heyward "if you judge of the Indian cunning by the rules you find in books, or by whitesagacity, they will lead you astray, if not to your death" (Cooper 259). Magua, the Indian guide, suggests a "short-cut"through the dense forest. Toronto: William Sloane Associates, Inc. Hawkeye continually makes this point to be sure that nobody confuses him for an Indianof any kind. " Reference Guide to American Literature 3rd ed. With theexpansion westward also came a problem for the US government. As the British leave the fortthey are massacred by the French allies, the Hurons. The main symbol ofwhite society is the "overly confident" outsider, Duncan Heyward (Stanley and Milne 136). Thecontrast between forest and civilization is the most apparent throughout the novel. Hawkeye and his friends run out of ammunition so they escape, leaving behind Heyward,Gamut, and the Munro sisters.
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