The Last of the Mohicans

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1826

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-8

Chapters 9-14

Chapters 15-22

Chapters 23-33

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

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Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary

Cooper begins his novel with a short author’s introduction describing the diversity of Native American tribes, but he also depicts them as superstitious. He discusses the physical appearance, ethnic origins, and languages of the Native Americans. He argues that white people have obscured the origins of Native Americans by corrupting their names and calls them “dispossessed.”

Chapter 1 begins by discussing the wilderness of the American frontier, especially in the upper Hudson region. The novel’s action occurs in the third year of the war between England and France (also called, in America, the French and Indian War) 1757. Forces are preparing to battle in the wilderness and are having difficulties traversing it. An officer of the British forces, Duncan Heyward, is traveling with two women, Alice and Cora Munro, to take them to their father, Colonel Munro.

Chapter 2 Summary

Duncan explains that a runner from the Mohawk tribe, Magua, is guiding them to a lake en route to Fort William Henry. Magua had previously fought against Munro but is now thought to be an ally. They come upon a stranger who says he is also headed to William Henry and suggests they travel together. Heyward is resistant to the idea, but Cora and Alice are open to it. David Gamut, the stranger, is a music teacher and begins to sing a psalm. Magua and Heyward mention the need to be quiet in the wilderness because it is dangerous to travel among enemies.

Chapter 3 Summary

A few miles away, two men are at a stream: Natty Bumppo and Chingachgook. Chingachgook is a Mohican, and the narrator describes the purpose of the Mohicans’ distinctive hair style of a single long tuft, which facilitated the antiquated practice of scalping. Natty Bumppo (also known as Hawkeye, the scout, and “La Longue Carabine,” French for “The Long Rifle”), is a white man described as muscular, hard-worn, and someone used to being outdoors. Bumppo and Chingachgook’s fathers knew each other and had worked to drive away people who wanted their land. Chingachgook and Bumppo grew up as friends.

Chingachgook’s son, Uncas, shows up and explains that he has been following the movements of people in the area, including Magua. Chingachgook asks Bumppo if he will help fight against Magua. They hear the horses approaching.

Chapters 1-3 Analysis

The Last of the Mohicans begins by showing in no uncertain terms that it is a historical novel. The author’s introduction, featuring Cooper’s comments on Native American tribes and languages, Fort William Henry, and the geography of the Hudson area, establish the novel as adapting the genre of the historical novel (developed by Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott) to the American context. Chapter 1 expands on this direction, providing background information on the French and Indian War as well as the Hudson wilderness, both of which pinpoint the specific, realistic setting.

Chapters 1-3 focus on three primary elements of the novel—the wilderness, the British colonials, and the Native Americans of the Hudson area—introduced in that order. There is a rationale to the ordering, as Cooper moves from the big picture context—to the British colonial history that would have been familiar to his readers—to insights on Native American culture, which The Last of the Mohicans and Cooper’s other novels helped to bring into American and global consciousness.

Within the novel, the wilderness is almost a character itself, becoming a constant force that the characters both struggle with and benefit from. In discussing the historical context of the novel, Cooper writes that the difficult terrain of the Hudson was a key factor in the colonial wars: “It was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North America, that the toils and dangers of the wilderness were to be encountered before the adverse hosts could meet” (7). The novel paints a picture of the American wilderness as being filled with danger, and people living on the frontier having the cultural memory of prior violence very much in mind.

The initial chapters of Cooper’s novel also introduce the primary characters as a diverse group. The British colonial include Heyward, Alice, and Cora above all. Gamut, as non-military and a resident of the Connecticut colony, is ethnically related to this group but also represents the transition between British-born colonials and second- third- and later-generation residents of the colonies. Natty Bumppo, with his keen knowledge of the wilderness and connection to characters like Chingachgook, represents a status even closer to the Native Americans and to American geography. Finally, Chingachgook, Uncas, and the other Native American characters give a glimpse into the diverse cultures of the Native American tribes—one of the innovations of Cooper’s novel—including physical descriptions (like the Mohicans’ distinctive hairstyle).