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| The Last of the Mohicans | |
| |
| Author | James Fenimore Cooper |
|---|---|
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Series | Leatherstocking |
| Genre(s) | Historical novel |
| Publisher | H.C. Carey & I. Lea |
| Publication date | January 1826 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 2 vol. |
| ISBN | NA |
| Preceded by | The Pioneers (1823) |
| Followed by | The Prairie (1827) |
For other uses, see The Last of the Mohicans (disambiguation).
The Last of the Mohicans is an epic novel by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in January 1826.
It was one of the most popular English-language novels of its time, and helped establish Cooper as one of the first world-famous American writers. Its narrative flaws were criticized from the start, and its length and elaborately formal prose style have reduced its appeal to later readers. Regardless, The Last of the Mohicans remains on the syllabi of most American literature courses. It is the best known of the Leatherstocking Tales, and Cooper wrote his novel The Prairie as a sequel to it.
Cooper named a principal character Uncas after the most famous of the Mohegans. The real Uncas lived in the colony of Connecticut in the mid seventeenth century, and not in the New York frontier a century later. 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.Oberg, pg. 7 He was not aware that Mohegans still existed then and to the present day.
The story takes place in 1757 during the French and Indian War, when France and the Kingdom of Great Britain battled for control of the American and Canadian 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.
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Mohicans was the second book by Cooper, following Pioneers in 1823, to feature the pioneer Nathaniel ("Natty") Bumppo, who is known variously throughout The Leatherstocking Tales as "Deerslayer", "Hawkeye", "Pathfinder", "Leatherstocking", etc., or simply as "The Scout." He personifies the rugged individualism and the pioneer spirit that is central to the American identity to this day.
The story is set in the British province of New York during the French and Indian War, and concerns a Huron massacre (with passive French acquiescence) of from 500 to 1,500 unarmed Anglo-American 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 Hawk-eye, 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 Tamanend, "I have lived to see the last warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans".Last of the Mohicans (1968 paperback edition), Chapter 33, pg. 600
A number of films have been based on the book, which is long - and movies need to be short. Hence numerous cuts, compressions, and inevitable distortions of the book appear in the film versions of 1911, The Last of the Mohicans (1920 film), The Last of the Mohicans (serial), The Last of the Mohicans (1936 film) and The Last of the Mohicans (1992 film). The 1920 version directed by Clarence Brown and Maurice Tourneur is well regarded, as is George Brackett Seitz\'s 1936 starring Randolph Scott as "Hawk-eye". 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 film by Michael Mann starring Daniel Day-Lewis as "Nathaniel Poe", Madeleine Stowe as "Cora Munro", Russell Means as "Chingachgook", Wes Studi as "Magua" and Eric Schweig as "Uncas" was, according to Mann, based more on the 1936 film version than on Cooper\'s book.
A number of television movies and serials have also been made, including the 1932 12-chapter motion picture serial starring Harry Carey as "Hawkeye", the 1957 ITC Entertainment series Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans starring John Hart as "Nat \'Hawkeye\' Cutler" and Lon Chaney Jr. as "Chingachgook", and a 1977 made-for-TV version starring Steve Forrest as "Hawkeye", Ned Romero as "Chingachgook" and Don Shanks as "Uncas".
The British Broadcasting Corporation made an eight chapter TV serial of the book in 1971, which had notable performances from Philip Madoc as "Magua", Kenneth Ives as "Hawkeye", John Abineri as "Chingachgook" and Patricia Maynard as "Cora Munro". This serial popularized the term "Mohican hairstyle" in Britain for what is known as a Mohawk hairstyle in the US, although this hairstyle was actually worn by the Hurons, not the Mohicans, in the serial.
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.
A children\'s edition was published in 1962 with illustrations by René Follet.
Currently, Marvel Illustrated is publishing a comic book mini-series of the story. The series has two issues published thus far with four more on the way.
The Last of the Mohicans (1971 and 1992 versions) are currently available on DVD.
In "Beaver\'s IQ" an episode of Leave it to Beaver he has to read Last of the Mohicans [2]
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