The Last of the Mohicans
Get this SparkNote to go!
Key Facts
full title · The Last of the Mohicans
author · James Fenimore Cooper
type of work · Novel
genre · Sentimental novel, adventure novel, frontier romance
language · English
time and place written · 1826, Europe
date of first publication · 1826
publisher · Carey & Lea of Philadelphia
narrator · Anonymous
point of view · Third person. The narrator follows the actions of several characters at once, especially during combat scenes. He describes characters objectively but periodically makes reference to his own writing.
tone · Ornate, solemn, sentimental, occasionally poetic
tense · Past
setting (time) · Several days from late July to mid-August 1757, during the French and Indian War
setting (place) · The American wilderness frontier in what will become New York State .
protagonist · Hawkeye
major conflict · The English battle the French and their Indian allies; Uncas helps his English friends resist Magua and the Hurons.
rising action · Magua captures Cora and Alice, beginning a series of adventures for the English characters, who try to rescue the women.
climax · Uncas triumphs over Magua in the Delaware council of Tamenund in Chapter XXX.
falling action · Magua dies; Cora and Uncas are torn apart.
themes · The consequences of interracial love and friendship; literal and metaphorical nature; the role of religion in the wilderness; the changing idea of family
motifs · Hybridity; disguise; inheritance
symbols · Hawkeye; “the last of the Mohicans”
foreshadowing · Cora’s unexpected attraction to Magua in Chapter I; Magua’s deceit in Chapter I; Chingachgook’s reference to Uncas as the “last of the Mohicans” in Chapter II.
Readers' Notes allow users to add their own analysis and insights to our SparkNotes—and to discuss those ideas with one another. Have a novel take or think we left something out? Add a Readers' Note!
