The Last Of The Mohicans Essay

The Last of the Mohicans, a novel by James Fenimore Cooper has a large number of adaptations ranging from films and stage dramas to comicas and radio shows. I will be comparing the novel to the 1992 film adaptation that starred Daniel Day-Lewis.

The Last of the Mohicans is set in the late 1750’s, during the French and Indian War. The French are attacking a British outpost (Fort William Henry) that has been put under the command of Colonel Munro and it is falling fast. Meanwhile, Munro’s two daughters Alice and Cora are being escorted by Major Duncan Heyward and an Indian named Magua to visit their father. They run into a white man named Natty Bumppo (also known as Hawkeye) and two Indians named Chingachgook and Uncas, who is Chingachgook’s son. Chingachgook and Uncas are the last of their tribe, the Mohicans. They inform them that Magua is leading them in the wrong direction and attempt to capture him, but he escapes. They are attacked the next morning by the Hurons and Magua captures both daughters, along with Heyward and Gamut. Moving along, Magua informs Heyward that he wants revenge on the Colonel and will free Alice if Cora will marry him, but Cora, who has developed romantic feelings for Uncas, angrily refuses. Just as things start to get heavy, Hawkeye and the Mohicans appear and rescue the captives, killing all of the Indians except Magua who manages to escape again. They eventually sneak into Fort Henry where the French army are besieging the fort. A parley is held due to lack of reinforcements, a mess of relations and racism goes down because Heyward prefers Alice to Cora, who had a “negro” mother.

During the retreat the Indians allied to the French continue attacking the English troops and Magua recaptures Alice, Cor...

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.... He is then burned alive or “put under the fire” as they called it. Also, Heyward and Hawkeye were not so rivalrous in the book as they were in the movie.

The story was set during the French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years’ War, a war between Great Britain and France, along with their Native American allies, that occurred from Virginia to Nova Scotia in the Spring of 1757. The names and dates of historic figures and battles were historically accurate and the information given about Monro and the French besiege at Fort William Henry was as well. Munro had asked for reinforcements from General Webb, who commanded the area from his base at Fort Edward, who did actually refuse to send further reinforcements, responding that he should negotiate the best terms possible which ultimately led to the parley. Some inaccuracies include death tolls and captivities.