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This article is about the novel. For the film starring Daniel Day-Lewis, see The Last of the Mohicans (1992 film). For other uses, see The Last of the Mohicans (disambiguation).
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.
[edit] Plot
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 2,000 to 2,500 Anglo-American and British 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 Tamenund: "I have lived to see the last warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans".[3] In addition, Chingachgook himself provides the title with the words "when Uncas follows in my footsteps, there will no longer be any of the blood of the sagamores, for my boy is the last of the Mohicans."[4] [edit] Characters
[edit] Style and themes
A notable feature of the story is that Cooper uses more than one name for many of the characters and groups of people. For example, Hawkeye is also known as Natty Bumpo, Le Longue Carabine, Long Rifle, and Scout. Another feature of the story is Cooper's noted detailed and verbiose descriptions of places, characters, events, and so on. [edit] AdaptationsA number of films have been based on the lengthy book, with numerous cuts, compressions, and distortions occurring in the story. The American 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. In Germany, Der Letzte der Mohikaner, with Béla Lugosi as Chingachgook, was the second part of the two-part Lederstrumpf film released in 1920. Based on the same series of the novels, Chingachgook die Grosse Schlange (Chingachgook the Great Serpent), starring Gojko Mitic as Chingachgook, appeared in East Germany in 1967, and became popular throughout the Eastern Bloc. 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, with Philip Madoc as Magua. 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.[10] 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 26 episodes. 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. [edit] See also[edit] Notes
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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