Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
How does cooper idealize the native americans in the last of the mohicans
What is the role of ethnicity and race in the way audiences interpret media messages
Features of Post colonial literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans
The French and Indian War of the eighteenth century had uniquely complex qualities, matched by the gravity of its outcome. The myriad of cultures involved the French, Canadian, American, English, Algonquians, and Iroquois whom make this era fascinating. The multi-ethnic element made it a war built upon fragile alliances, often undermined by factional disputes and shifting fortunes. Violent as it was, its battlefields encompassed some of the most beautiful country to be found anywhere. Its richness in diverse cultures, the severity of its bloody violence, and the beauty of its landscape, all combine to make this an era with great depth of interest. It is entertaining and educational to witness a re-enactment event of a historical film and novel called The Last of the Mohicans.
In the wake of the 1992 debates about Columbus, the discovery of the Americas, and whether terms such as 'holocaust', 'genocide', and 'racism' should be applied to what happened to Native Americans, Michael Mann's film remake of James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans continues a process of historical erasure or forgetting that Cooper and his contemporaries began. The sentimental racism expressed in Cooper's novel involves the ideas of the auto-genocide of 'savagery' and the inevitable extinction of all Native Americans. Though Mann purported to take great pains in his film to be historically accurate, the film is only accurate in relation to trivial details. It thoroughly scrambles major aspects of Cooper's text, including converting the ageing Natty Bumppo into a young sex symbol (Daniel Day-Lewis). More importantly, the film completely erases Cooper's sentimental racism by, for instance, turning Chingachgook rather than his son, Uncas, into the 'last' of his tribe, and thereby overlooking the motif of the futureless child central to that racism. But in eliminating Cooper's racism, the film in a sense perfects the novel, because the sentimentalism that softened the racism was already a form of erasure or forgetting.
Reading the novel, The Last of the Mohicans, I was actually able to appreciate Cooper’s work, as it was interesting and very different from the movie. While it is true that he is long-winded and very shallowly treats character development, I think that the original work does merit its study. I found that ...
... middle of paper ...
...nd political correctness. There are no dialogs to speak of, no historical, anthropological, geographic, political, social, explanations or orientation. So you don’t learn much about world history from their conversations and dialogue. What you do grasp about the history of this period is by soaking in the environment, traditions, rules, surroundings, behaviors, clothing, and styles of living.
The movie and novel of The Last of the Mohicans are both great representations of the French and Indian War as they are attempts to resurrect and redefine the American hero. There was an emphasis on the concept that no man has dominion over another. The novel and film both have strong and weak parts that help us understand and to learn the styles and ways of this time period. They are both great tools for learning about modern world history in their own ways about war and tragedy. The Last of the Mohicans is a bold and stirring story that will always be very memorable adventure years to come.
Bibliography
The Last of the Mohicans. Produced by Michael Mann. 1 hour 54 minutes. 1992.
Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. Albany: State University of New
York Press, 1983.
The movie Broken Arrow (1950) builds strongly upon the stereotyping Indians of being noble savages. The scenes in which Tom Jeffords makes contact with the group of Apache Indians in Broken Arrow manipulates the viewer's perspective of the Apache, enforcing a noble savage stereotype to the Apache tribe. These scenes at the start of the movie can easily change the attitude of the viewers. Jefford’s first encounter with the Apache group has a greater presence on how savage and wild the Apache can be, where as there is a greater emphasis on nobility with Cochise’s character.
The Last of the Mohicans, released in 1993, is a story with much historical background as well as a very entertaining love story to catch the viewer’s eye. This movie is based on the historical event of the French and Indian War that went from 1754-1763. To give this story a more interesting twist, the director, Michael Mann, has added a love story between Hawkeye and Cora. Cora and her sister Alice are being escorted to their father, commander of Fort William Henry, when an attack by the Indians occurs. Daniel Day-Lewis, Hawkeye, comes to their rescue and helps bring them to their father. Hawkeye, along with his father (Chingachgook), and his brother (Uncas), try to help out her father but he will not take it into consideration. They are attacked and destroyed. All along this journey, Hawkeye and Cora fall in love. There have been a variety of responses to this film. Some critics very much enjoyed Mann’s work, while others had nothing good at all to say about it.
In his novel, Thomas King plays on stereotypes and expectations that occur in our society on the portrayal of Native Americans. He show us the bias image that we have of them by describing what is an indian from a colonizers point of view, how the genre of western movies has an effect on our perception in society. In the novel, Nasty Bumppo, who represents modern society, explains that :
In James Fenimore Coopers' book, The Last of the Mohicans, we find a classic story set in the 1700's. During this time, the war between the French and English is raging, complicated by an additional contention between the Mohican Indians and the Huron Indians. The location is in the area of Lake George in the Hudson Valley,somewhere between New York and Canada. The theme of this book is a conflict
The director of The Last of the Mohicans is Michael Mann. By taking a look at Mann's filmography, you will see that he mainly specializes in the action genera. This makes him a perfect fit for this film. A director is the individual that is responsible for overseeing all the elements of a film such as lighting, rehearsals.etc. The film director takes the script and turns it into his vision. The director also has the responsibility of working closely with all of his crew to ensure that everyone is on the same page at all times. Once the film is in editing stage, the director works hand in hand with the film editors to ensure that the work stays true to his vision. The director manages all aspects which is why if a movie fails the directors is held responsible.
The Last of the Mohicans – The last members of the Native American Tribe, the Mohicans are caught in the middle of a battle between the French and the British after they rescue Colonel Monro’s two daughter from a group of Yuron Indians with a vendetta against Monro.
"The Last of The Mohicans", by Michael Mann, is a 1992 American historical movie, set in during the third years into the war of the French and Indian war. The event of the Fort William precipitated the American Revolution by portrayed the weak relationship in the British’s superior attitude to the colonist and how the Colonist better off by themselves without the British.
The Last of the Mohicans and A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson both display cultural division between the American Indians and the colonist and/or settlers. Mary Rowlandson story is one from her personal accounts from the eleven weeks she was held prisoner by the Indians. The Last of the Mohicans, too, deal with captivity situations and the animosity between the two cultures
In Thomas King’s novel, The Inconvenient Indian, the story of North America’s history is discussed from his original viewpoint and perspective. In his first chapter, “Forgetting Columbus,” he voices his opinion about how he feel towards the way white people have told America’s history and portraying it as an adventurous tale of triumph, strength and freedom. King hunts down the evidence needed to reveal more facts on the controversial relationship between the whites and natives and how it has affected the culture of Americans. Mainly untangling the confusion between the idea of Native Americans being savages and whites constantly reigning in glory. He exposes the truth about how Native Americans were treated and how their actual stories were
Although the work is 40 years old, “Custer Died for Your Sins” is still relevant and valuable in explaining the history and problems that Indians face in the United States. Deloria’s book reveals the White view of Indians as false compared to the reality of how Indians are in real life. The forceful intrusion of the U.S. Government and Christian missionaries have had the most oppressing and damaging affect on Indians. There is hope in Delorias words though. He believes that as more tribes become more politically active and capable, they will be able to become more economically independent for future generations. He feels much hope in the 1960’s generation of college age Indians returning to take ownership of their tribes problems and build a better future for their children.
Louise Erdrich’s short story “American horse” is a literary piece written by an author whose works emphasize the American experience for a multitude of different people from a plethora of various ethnic backgrounds. While Erdrich utilizes a full arsenal of literary elements to better convey this particular story to the reader, perhaps the two most prominent are theme and point of view. At first glance this story seems to portray the struggle of a mother who has her son ripped from her arms by government authorities; however, if the reader simply steps back to analyze the larger picture, the theme becomes clear. It is important to understand the backgrounds of both the protagonist and antagonists when analyzing theme of this short story. Albetrine, who is the short story’s protagonist, is a Native American woman who characterizes her son Buddy as “the best thing that has ever happened to me”. The antagonist, are westerners who work on behalf of the United States Government. Given this dynamic, the stage is set for a clash between the two forces. The struggle between these two can be viewed as a microcosm for what has occurred throughout history between Native Americans and Caucasians. With all this in mind, the reader can see that the theme of this piece is the battle of Native Americans to maintain their culture and way of life as their homeland is invaded by Caucasians. In addition to the theme, Erdrich’s usage of the third person limited point of view helps the reader understand the short story from several different perspectives while allowing the story to maintain the ambiguity and mysteriousness that was felt by many Natives Americans as they endured similar struggles. These two literary elements help set an underlying atmos...
Throughout The Last of the Mohicans, many themes are portrayed. One of the major themes is interracial (involving different races) love and friendship. This novel is about the difficulty of overcoming racial divides. Cooper explains that racial mingling is dangerous, but worth having. The idea of interracial love and friendship being desirable is demonstrated by Hawkeye, a white man, and Chingachgook, a Mohican Indian. Hawkeye and Chingachgook shared a similar goal and united together to team up against Huron enemies to save white military leaders like Heyward. Interracial love is also dangerous. Cooper also shows that interracial romances are not worth having, as Uncas and Cora’s love ends in tragedy. Overall, the novel ends in hope for a
The Last of the Mohicans is a novel written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826 that takes place during the French and Indian War, in which the Huron tribe fought with the French army and the Mohicans fought with the British army. It is highly influential and is deemed an indispensable work of American literature. It includes many romantic traits. The Last of the Mohicans is a romantic based novel that describes the traits of romanticism dealing with intimacy and the protection and care of family.
The novel “The Last of Mohicans” encompass a lot of interesting characters; however, the novel’s main protagonist is Hawkeye, also known by several other names such as: the scout and Natty Bumppo. Five different novels of Fennimore Cooper stars Hawkeye, known as the Leather stocking Tales. In addition to that, his characters in the novels have never been changed or developed. The main strength of Hawkeye is his adaptability, which makes him a strong character in the novel. He has the ability to adapt to the difficulties of the frontier because he is a strong built hunter and fearless scout. Often called as, La Longue Carabine,” which is French for “the long rifle among his Indian enemies.
The movie The Last of the Mohicans directed by Michael Mann shows the Romantic Period’s conception of Nature. The film is heavily based upon Nature and expresses Nature as a central character in the film. The American Romantic Period’s definition of nature is sublime, using inspiration in myth, legend, and folklore, finding beauty and truth in exotic locates, and reflecting on nature’s beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development (Elements of Literature). The Mohicans and the Europeans take different prospective in their view of nature. The Europeans do not see the beauty in Nature and has a corrupt civilization, whereas the Mohicans live as frontiersmen and admires Nature. This movie shows how The Mohicans accolades Nature as a supernatural