"The Last of the Mohicans"

Author: Cooper; J.F.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-10-27
Features: It is 1757. Across northeastern America, the armies of Britain and France struggle for ascendancy. Their conflict, however, overlays older struggles between nations of Native Americans for possession of the same lands and between the Native peoples and white colonizers. Through these layers of conflict, Cooper weaves a thrilling narrative, in which Cora and Alice Munro, daughters of a British commander on the frontline of the colonial war, attempt to join their father. Hindered by Magua, the sinister 'Indian runner,' they find help in the person of Hawk-eye, the white woodsman, and his companions, the Mohican Chingachgook and Uncas, his son, the last of his tribe. Cooper's novel is filled with vivid incidents—pursuits through wild terrain, skirmishes, treachery, and brutality—but also reflects on the interaction between the colonists and the Native peoples. Through the character of Hawkeye, Cooper raises lasting questions about the practices of the American frontier and the eclipse of the indigenous cultures.