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The Last of the Mohicans

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Submitted By ferdebarros
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Fernando De Barros
Shorter University
American Literature
Prof: Renee Emerson
James Fennimore Cooper was born in America on September 15th of 1789, and passed away September the 14th of 1851. Before starting his career as a writer he served in the US Navy. That caused him to base some of his stories on the sea and his Navy experience. He spent most of his time in Cooperstown, which was a town that his father founded. Also he was a member and contributor to the Episcopal Church. About his education, he attended to Yale for three years but then he good expelled due to misbehavior. He was without a doubt a prolific writer of the early 19th century. And he is one of the most important romantic writers in American history. His masterpiece is The Last of the Mohicans, which will be analyzed in this essay.
The Last of the Mohicans is the most popular story from the Leatherstocking Tales. It is a story about the French and Indian war that took place in the 1750s. They were fighting about who would have control over the colonies. When Cora and Alice, the daughters of an English military man, are traveling to visit their father led by Magua they run into Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas. Hawkeye came quickly into account and realized that they were being led to a trap so he tries to stop Magua but they failed. The day after Magua and his men attack the group and take Cora and Alice captive and Magua explicitly tell them that he hate the girls because the Colonel humiliated him. Magua’s desire was to marry Cora but she never wanted to because her heart belonged to Uncas. Hawkeye and his people tracked down Magua and kill all of his people, even though Magua escaped, they helped Cora and Alice finish their journey to their father. As the English were retreating from a fight with the French, the Indian take advantage and attack them and take Cora and Alice captive again. They rescued Alice first using the disguise of a French healer. After this Magua seeks revenge. Magua goes to the camp where Cora is being held and takes her into the wilderness with Hawkeye and Uncas chasing them. They catch up and they defeat them, but Cora and Uncas die. Magua killed Uncas and then tried to escape but Hawkeye shot him. They give them proper burials and Chingachgook mourns the loss of Uncas, the Las of the Mohicans.
The Last of the Mohicans is a story about love, religion, jealousy, hatred, betrayal, racial conflict, social conflict. It is hard to imagine how Cooper could write such a complex novel. This novel is a complete masterpiece. Taking a look first to the theme of social conflict, we have three separate groups in this story. We have the Indians, the English and the French. The English and the French were at war, and the French usually allied with some Indians to attack the Englishmen. Even though some Indian tribes like the Mohicans were helping the English. It all started with Magua and his people taking Cora and Alice captive, Magua was supposed to be a guide for the journey, he was supposed to be trusted. It turned out that he betrayed the English since he was a selfish character that wanted to marry Cora. Magua was jealous of Uncas, who was Cora’s beloved. Jealousy was a main trigger in this betrayal by Magua.
The racial issue in this novel is enormous since we have three different races. For example, we have Hawkeye who has a Native American origin but was raised as a white man. Another example is Cora, where Cooper adds together two different races since her parents are from different backgrounds. In this fashion, the author is trying to pose the question of racial discrimination and cultural differences. Should we be treated different from another person based on our culture, our manners and our background? The Last of the Mohicans serves as proof that two origins can coexist in peace and find happiness by being together, we see how harmony was found at the end of the book and how sharing values can make races grow together. That’s the beauty of this romantic story, it does not matter what your background is. Ultimately, if you are a good hearted person you can fit into any society.
This story is filled with hatred. We can see it through Magua, who was removed from his tribe by Colonel Munro for excessive drinking, and now is seeking for revenge. The Colonel is the father of Cora and Alice, and that is why Magua takes them captive and also wants to marry Cora, as an act of revenge. Cora and Alice are from different mother, Cora being tough since her mother was black, and Alice was weak and fragile. Major Heyward is a colonist, who Alice loves. Chingachgook is Hawkeye’s old friend and lastly Gamut is a Calvinist spreading the word of Christ.
Also, religion can be seen throughout the story. We see that that Cooper is a religious man that shows us through his irony how important religion is for him. Irony can also be found in his main character Hawkeye, being skeptic about Gamut’s Calvinistic religious views. Religion should be altered according to the hardship of the life at the frontier. The irony portrayed in the story is key when analyzing the religious aspect. Even at times of war, the author was capable of adding this element, he was probably a religious guys and always considered religion as a big part of his life. That is the reason why Cooper includes religion and Christ in this story.
The character mentioned a couple paragraphs above help develop the main character, Hawkeye. He is effective at every task and he is the leader of all. Brave and honest, most of the people in his tribe go to him for advises. He is a mix from different cultures. He has a hybrid background, making him comfortable with pretty much any kind of race. He understands the beauty of nature, making him feel comfortable out in the wild. He is a big believer in interracial friendships but disapproves interracial relationships. He believes that such relationships are destined to be doomed.
Romanticism is highly seen throughout the story. For starters, Cooper emphasizes the nature and its beauty, individualism, and sometimes exotic challenging location for the characters. He brings the memories of the characters’ into play, making this a deep an emotional story, with a quite complex background. He also holds high values, such as independence and freedom. He shows us these values through Hawkeye; he is an honest and brave leader. He shows the values mentioned above are the most important thing for Hawkeye, and he is willing to stand for them no matter what the cost is.
At reading, it caught my attention the use of long and vivid sentences. Cooper used this sentences mostly to describe ironic situations or love scenes not to indulge in the use of explicit words. It can also be found that Cooper, through this story, is trying to make the reader realize of the good and bad components of each culture, he does not miss an opportunity to criticize the bad aspects and as well does not miss one to point out the good aspects. This story also made me realize that the author is willing to emphasize on the meaning of religion on a person’s life. Sometimes it can be through a symbolic analogy, but if you read carefully enough you can easily tell. He believes that people have strong and good qualities given by God that they should take advantage in a good way, and later this attributes will lead the person to salvation.
I felt that this story can compare with Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Tom was a slave who was at the same time a very kind man, and he gained the respect of his owner. The Tom is sold to an abusive owner. This new owner was aggressive and abused Tom. Even though Tom was being abused by this owner, Tom remained a loving and caring individual. He was always concerned for his fellow slaves and he helped them in any way he could. Even through times of abuse, Tom maintained his great attitude and personality. Shockingly, Tom passes away due to a beating that his owner provided. Tom’s story is a great example of how an individual, even in times of suffering, can influence greatly a community.
I can relate Tom with Hawkeye. Both of them are strong individual that are willing to stand up for their values. No matter was Tom was going through he remained a good guy, gentle and loving. In the same fashion, no matter what situation Hawkeye was facing, Hawkeye had high values in mind at all times. He was going through war and was trying to help his people and was leading a tribe but he did not care. Both of them are good examples of how a person should stand firm for what they believe. There is nothing more romantic than these two characters.
We can find in The Last of the Mohicans a couple of literary elements. First of all we need to agree that this is an example of romanticism. It has vivid and detailed scenarios that are described in detailed making the reader feel that he is participating in them. Also, irony is used multiple times in the story, sometimes to describe confusing and awkward situations between characters or to make unexpected links between situations. And lastly we can find morals, every situation and action taken in this story has a meaning. The decisions taken by the good characters throughout the story serve good purpose. For example, every action that Hawkeye takes aim toward his ideals of freedom and independence. Every action that Uncas takes is because he tries to find his beloved Cora. Every action that Heyward takes is to save Alice, and so on. Cooper is a romantic, and no one can say the contrary.

References: * Fenimore Cooper, James. "The Last of the Mohicans." The Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper. Read It Now for Free! (Homepage). N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2015. http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/James_Fenimore_Cooper/The_Last_of_the_Mohicans * Fenimore Cooper, James. "The Last of the Mohicans." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 18 June 2015. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mohicans/summary.html

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