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Last of the Mohicans

The Last of the Mohicans is a story of Indian bonds with the French and British. It takes place during 1757 when the French and Indian war was going on. The French and British had completely different relations with the Indians. Some Indians liked the British, some liked the French, and others were hostile towards them both. The Indians liked both sides for different reasons. When Major Duncan Heyward and his daughters Cora, Alice, and a man named David Gamut set out in the wilderness, they have an Indian runner named Magua. All of a sudden Hawkeye, Chingakgook, and his son Uncas scare him away. Chingakgook and Uncas are the last remaining Mohicans and Hawkeye is a regular colonist who did not like the way his people lived so he made friends with the Indians. The Mohicans number one enemies are he Hurons, which Magua was. The reason why the Mohicans decide to help Heyward and company was because they did not like the Hurons and wanted to do a good deed for the company. Magua and the Hurons were employed by the French side. They persuaded them to join their side with the promise of protected land. They also used weapons and protection as another factor. The French also used the Hurons to bring doom to the British. Chingakgook and Uncas were especially endangered because they are the last of the Hurons enemies and they want to get rid of them. The Hurons do work for the French by kidnapping Heyward and his daughters. The Mohicans and Hawkeye come and rescue them though because they have become close with the British. Uncas even falls in love with Cora and the Mohicans find out and kill Cora, making Uncas extremely volatile towards the Hurons. Lastly, there were Indians that were on no side at all. The Mohicans and the Hurons were two tribes out of many. Random tribes attacked both forts throughout the book. Not all the tribes in America connected with settlers, no matter what heritage they were. It was also not very common for Indians to get along with sides as well as they did in the book. Usually Americans tried to Americanize the Indians which led to hate towards the Americans. They also tried to force religion on the Indians and change all their ways. Indian tribes that were loyal towards a certain group were usually bribed heavily with false promises. In conclusion, there were Indians that were on the French, British, and no sides. Usually the Indians on a certain side were bribed that way or had enemies on the other side. The Mohicans were sided with the British and the Hurons were with the French. The other tribes were not sided with anybody at all. The Last of the Mohicans was truly Cooper’s masterpiece.

Last of the Mohicans Questions 1. Cooper used the wilderness as the backdrop of his love story because the book takes place during the French and Indian War and the fight was for land out in the wilderness. 2. In 1757 the colonial frontier is a warzone. It is completely wild and unsettled. It is also very dangerous. 3. Natty Bumppo is a frontiersman that is “brothers” with Chingachgook although he was born to white parents. He lives under the “One shot, one kill” rule and is the focal point because he is the protagonist who wants to end the war. 4. The English and the natives are iffy but the Mohicans like them, but the English and other colonists have tensions between them for land. 5. The Last of the Mohicans is considered a masterpiece because Cooper had done what no other author had done before. He was the first to tell a bold story of the American frontier and wars. His book was also very descriptive and it captivated people. 6. The part of the book that confused me the most was the way it was written was very hard to understand. It was an odd style of writing that was hard to comprehend.