The Last of the Mohicans

“Should we distrust the man because his manners are not our manners, and that his skin is dark!”

Early in the novel, Magua leads Heyward, Cora, and Alice through the wilderness, and they become suspicious of him. Heyward in particular implies that the Native American man may be misleading them, while Cora, who herself stands out from the others (including her white sister, Alice) because of her appearance, defends Magua from criticism based on his race. While the suspicions about Magua turn out to be correct, Cora insists that Magua’s misdeeds should be judged based on his character and shouldn’t be reduced to a matter of his race.

“Who comes hither, among the beasts and dangers of the wilderness?”

At the moment in which Heyward’s party and Bumppo’s party meet, Bumppo calls out to them to identify themselves. His question is ironic because Alice, Cora, Heyward, and Gamut turn out to be anything but “beasts and dangers.” Nevertheless, his question points to the way that wilderness is figured with in the novel: primarily as a hazardous place that requires knowledge, courage, and luck to navigate and survive in.

“The one is, to be still as the sleeping woods, let what will happen; and the other is, to keep the place where we shall take you forever a secret from all mortal men.”

After agreeing to help guide Heyward’s party through the wilderness, Bumppo takes charge and urges Heyward to agree to two conditions: to be silent within the wilderness, and to keep their destination (the cave at Glenn’s Falls) a secret. The conditions are an act of bonding and trust-building between the strangers. They are also indications of Bumppo’s approach to life in the wilderness, which is based on both knowledge and stealth.

“Alice gazed at his free air and proud carriage as she would have looked upon some precious relic of the Grecian chisel, to which life has been imparted by the intervention of a miracle.”

Alice looks carefully at the physique of Uncas the first time she sees him, her gaze providing an opportunity within the narrative to both describe Uncas and to convey something about Alice’s perspective on the Native Americans within the novel. She is struck by Uncas’s strong character, which exudes freedom, yet her instinct is to objectify him, comparing him to a statue, and a Greek (and thus non-American) one at that. Thus, her view of the Native Americans is shown to be more estranging than other characters, such as Cora’s or Bumppo’s.

“These devils will scale heaven to circumvent us to our ruin.”

In one of the initial skirmishes between Bumppo’s group and Magua’s, the travelers are at first confused about where the shots are coming from before they realize there is a sniper—one of Magua’s men—shooting at them from high up in a tree. Bumppo criticizes Magua’s men for their tactics, calling them “devils.” The skirmish leads to one of the action-packed moments of high drama within the novel, when Bumppo begins to shoot at the sniper, who hangs precariously from the tree before one final shot takes him down into the river, dead.

“La Longue Carabine’! His rifle is good, and his eye never shut; but, like the short gun of the white chief, it is nothing against the life of Le Subtil.”

Bumppo’s bravado and skill find a formidable match in Magua’s. Despite his shortcomings, he is unafraid to toss insults and dismiss Bumppo. Both have earned their nicknames—Bumppo, “La Longue Carabine” and Magua, “Le Reynard Subtil”—with good reason. Yet Magua’s boast, perhaps foreshadowing his end, proves to be false, as Bumppo ultimately kills Magua before the end of the novel.

“Is it justice to make evil and then punish for it? Magua was not himself; it was the fire-water that spoke and acted for him!”

The Last of the Mohicans clearly positions Magua as its primary antagonist, but it does not simply paint him as a one-dimensional villain. Instead, Magua’s flaws are shown to be due, in part, to his alcoholism. Complicating matters further, it turns out that Colonel Munro (the father of Cora and Alice) was the person who humiliated Magua after the Huron was deceptively introduced to alcohol by white colonials. By presenting this story, Cooper’s novel shares a realistic take on the unjust encounters between Native Americans and European settlers in colonial America in addition to humanizing Magua.

“The instant Gamut discovered that he battled with a disputant who imbibed his faith from the lights of nature, eschewing all subtleties of doctrine, he willingly abandoned a controversy from which he believed neither profit nor credit was to be derived.”

David Gamut’s character contributes a unique perspective in The Last of the Mohicans, particularly in the way that it contrasts to Bumppo’s. Gamut is religious, bookish, musical, and cultured, in contrast to Bumppo, who identifies strongly with the ways and places of nature. Bumppo scoffs at Gamut’s theological discussions, implying that he instead finds spirituality in nature. Gamut’s full character is shown in his reaction to this: instead of arguing with Bumppo, he quietly accepts their differences. This acceptance is another of the novel’s implications about the developing, diverse American culture.

“Such memorials of the passage and struggles of man are yet frequent throughout the broad barrier of wilderness which once separated the hostile provinces, and form a species of ruins that are intimately associated with the recollections of colonial history.”

Cooper’s novel follows on the example of Sir Walter Scott’s by being explicitly historical in nature, as it is set during the French and Indian War. Within the novel, history itself becomes a trope. In moments like this, when Bumppo’s group comes across an abandoned blockhouse, the novel shows that already at the time of the French and Indian War, the colonies had a history. Written decades later, Cooper’s novel explores this history from a vantage point even further removed, suggesting that even by 1826, the United States could already be said to have developed and to be on a course of further evolution.

“Twould have been a cruel and an unhuman act for a white-skin; but ’tis the gift and natur’ of an Indian, and I suppose it should not be denied. I could wish, though, it had befallen an accursed Mingo, rather than that gay young boy from the old countries.”

Like other characters, such as Cora, Alice, and Heyward, Bumppo offers comments on how he distinguishes between Native Americans and settlers of European descent. He excuses Uncas’ act of scalping a French sentry in cold blood as being part of “the gift and natur’ of an Indian,” while simultaneously expressing a desire that the murdered man had been a Native American (a Mingo) rather than a white European “from the old countries.” Bumppo is the white character who is most intimately connected to the Native Americans in the novel, yet he still shows himself to have biases.

“Were nothing but resolution necessary to repel so accomplished a soldier as M. de Montcalm, I would gladly trust the defense of William Henry to the elder of those ladies.”

Heyward’s one-on-one meeting with Montcalm gives insight on the way that the war proceeded between the British and the French forces, as they fruitlessly but diplomatically attempt to negotiate. Montcalm knows that Munro’s daughters (Alice and Cora) have successfully made it to Fort William Henry, despite the surrounding French forces, and out of anger, he belittles and mocks the British. Yet Heyward holds his ground, stating that the resolve of those women is indicative of the strength of the British—simultaneously a compliment to Alice and Cora and an insult to Montcalm.

“Then raising his voice to its highest tone, he poured out a strain so powerful as to be heard even amid the din of that bloody field. More than one savage rushed toward them, thinking to rifle the unprotected sisters of their attire, and bear away their scalps; but when they found this strange and unmoved figure riveted to his post, they paused to listen.”

Throughout the novel, Gamut is associated with music, both because he is a music teacher by profession and because he firmly believes in the emotional power of music. While even Bumppo at times mocks Gamut, the real power of his belief shines through in one of the darkest moments of the novel. As the British forces and settlers abandon Fort William Henry, they are viciously attacked by the Hurons, including Magua. In this horrifying crisis, Gamut turns to song, which turns out to be capable of stopping the enemies in a way that even a weapon could not. Thus, the novel implies that the power of music, though perhaps not applicable in every situation, is certainly formidable.

“It is not the swiftest leaping deer that gives the longest chase.”

After the massacre at Fort William Henry, and the kidnapping of Alice and Cora by Magua, Bumppo’s group struggles to track their enemies. Colonel Munro is particularly distraught and frantic, given that his beloved daughters have been captured. Heyward is likewise impatient to find the women. By contrast, Bumppo urges restraint and caution, reckoning that success depends on an ability to out-think and outlast their opponents, rather than a rush to be the “swiftest leaping deer.” In reminding his companions of this point, Bumppo again portrays how he is savvy and has superior knowledge of life on the frontier.

“The great tie of language, and, of course, of a common origin, was severed in many places; and it was one of its consequences, that the Delaware and the Mingo (as the people of the Six Nations were called) were found fighting in the same ranks, while the latter sought the scalp of the Huron, though believed to be the root of his own stock.”

Throughout the novel, the narrator provides not only historical but also cultural context, following on the notes laid out in Cooper’s introduction. Here, the narrator discusses the diversity of Native American languages, arguing that the linguistic divisions between various tribes were a major factor in the conflicts between them. The novel implies that the linguistic/cultural/geographical divisions between the colonial powers in America are similarly in part to blame for their conflicts. Yet the narrator’s sharing of information about the linguistic differences between the tribes also sets up for the powerful moment of unity near the novel’s climax, when Uncas is able to speak to Tamenund, the leader of another tribe, and thus bring about a compromise that reunites Alice with her group.

“The whole party crowded to the spot where Uncas pointed out the impression of a moccasin in the moist alluvion.” 

While the protagonist Bumppo is famed for his knowledge of the ways of the frontier, he seems to have learned much from his Mohican friends Chingachgook and Uncas, and he often relies on them. When tracking Alice, Cora, and Gamut after Magua took Colonel Munro’s daughters away, it is Uncas who is able to find a barely-noticeable impression of Gamut’s shoe and thus confirm that Bumppo’s group is on the correct trail. Even Bumppo expresses admiration for Uncas’ skill, a sign of the novel’s overall respect for Native Americans.

“His lurking Indians were suddenly converted into four-footed beasts; his lake into a beaver pond; his cataract into a dam, constructed by those industrious and ingenious quadrupeds; and a suspected enemy into his tried friend, David Gamut, the master of psalmody.” 

Heyward is depicted favorably within The Last of the Mohicans, as an honorable, brave, and dedicated representative of the British colonial force. At the same time, the novel makes clear that he lacks the familiarity with the frontier that Bumppo, Chingachgook, and Uncas have. The narrator has some fun at Heyward’s expense when it describes how he initially thought that a group of beavers at their dam, and Gamut standing next to them, were a group of enemy forces. In this way, the novel jokingly points out that Heyward lacks the ability to consistently see the truth of the frontier, literally and figuratively.

“Remember, that to outwit the knaves it is lawful to practise things that may not be naturally the gift of a white-skin.”

Heyward shows his bravery and readiness to adapt when he volunteers to go into the enemy camp in disguise in order to rescue Munro’s daughters. When talking to Heyward before he departs on the mission, Bumppo counsels him that he can set aside some of the ways he has been taught to act; for instance, a British officer under other circumstances would not think it honorable to breach enemy territory in disguise. In advising Heyward that it is alright to adapt, Bumppo is simultaneously implying that the ways of America are something entirely new, and he's pointing out that the unique ways of life in America stem in part from the cultural diversity of the land.

“Magua had so artfully blended the natural sympathies with the religious superstition of his auditors, that their minds, already prepared by custom to sacrifice a victim to the manes of their countrymen, lost every vestige of humanity in a wish for revenge.”

Magua’s shortcomings, and his alcoholism, the narrator implies, are not unknown to the other members of the tribe. When Uncas, who is being held prisoner by the Hurons, insults Magua by calling him a coward, Magua is faced with a choice. He can either react forcefully to the insult, or risk appearing weak to his fellow warriors. Magua then delivers a speech to his group that rouses them and plays on their superstitions, convincing them that Uncas must be sacrificed. While this act reinforces Magua’s stature within his group, it also shows that he has leadership skills that reveal the complexities of his tribe and paints him as anything but a primitive man.

“There is but a single ruler of us all, whatever may be the color of the skin.” 

In one of the novel’s clearest and most forceful declarations of tolerance and acceptance of cultural diversity, Bumppo declares his belief in a single God of all races, an assertion that was likely startling to Cooper’s early readers. Bumppo bases his statement on an acknowledgement of how closely he had lived with Uncas and Chingachgook; he praises how they defended and aided him, and insists that he treated them with equal respect. Having grown so close to them despite their cultural and racial differences, Bumppo cannot but see himself and the Native Americans as spiritually connected.

“I will abide in the place of the Delaware. Bravely and generously has he battled in my behalf, and this, and more, will I dare in his service.”

Gamut is perhaps the least likely character to be expected to portray bravado, at least based on outward signs; a Connecticut music teacher, he seems unlike backcountry figures like Bumppo, Chingachgook, and Magua. Yet at multiple points in the novel he defies expectations and proves to have a brave, steadfast character, as when he steadfastly follows Alice and Cora after they are captured by Magua, or in this moment, when he volunteers to pretend to be the imprisoned Uncas so the real Uncas can escape—knowing will likely face death. His explanation reveals his motivation—genuine respect and appreciation for Uncas—which bridges cultural differences.

“The eyes of the old man were closed, as though the organs were wearied with having so long witnessed the selfish workings of the human passions. The color of his skin differed from that of most around him, being richer and darker, the latter having been produced by certain delicate and mazy lines of complicated and yet beautiful figures, which had been traced over most of his person by the operation of tattooing.” 

The entrance of Tamenund at the climax of The Last of the Mohicans is a dramatic moment that announces the brief but critical role the elderly chief will play within the novel. The narrator focuses on a physical description of Tamenund that recalls earlier descriptions of characters like Cora and Uncas, while emphasizing his age and experience, with a dark, tattooed skin covering a man who has “long witnessed the selfish workings of the human passions.” Tamenund’s age is literally and symbolically important, as it gives his character the respect and perspective needed to later end the novel by touching on the long view of Native American history.

“Their title is a lie, ‘killdeer’ being a grooved barrel and no carabyne. I am the man, however, that got the name of Nathaniel from my kin; the compliment of Hawkeye from the Delaware, who live on their own river; and whom the Iroquois have presumed to style the ‘Long Rifle’, without any warranty from him who is most concerned in the matter.” 

Near the end of the novel, Bumppo, known as both “Hawkeye” and “La Longue Carabine” (“The Long Rifle”) on account of his shooting skills, takes a moment to give a rare glimpse into his personal life. He explains his personal story by both rejecting his nickname as a misnomer (as his gun, Killdeer, is not a carabine-style rifle), and by describing how he was befriended by the Delaware. In a symbolic sense, however, Bumppo’s confession is an assertion of his honor, a kind of testimony that helps to persuade Tamenund, who is presiding over the negotiations between Magua’s group and Bumppo’s.

“Kill me if thou wilt, detestable Huron; I will go no further.”

At multiple points in The Last of the Mohicans, Cora proves to be strong, outspoken, and brave. In one of the most dramatic moments of the novel, she stands down Magua, who is again trying to force her to stay with him. At the edge of a rocky cliff, Cora refuses to give into Magua, knowing that death will be certain; moments later, a Huron warrior kills her. The incident emphasizes Cora’s independence and boldness, and it symbolically points to the strength of the new, diverse American that she represents.