Study Questions & Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. How does The
Last of the Mohicans bring together elements of the sentimental
novel and the frontier adventure story?
Cooper weaves together elements of the sentimental
novel, such as love and marriage, and elements of the frontier adventure,
such as warfare and racial conflict. He creates friendships and
psychological tensions among his characters that are typical of
both genres. Cooper emphasizes the various happy, tragic, and romantic
results of intercultural mingling. He uses female characters to
carry the narrative weight of sentimentality, but he also introduces
them into the combat situations that define the frontier adventure.
Cooper makes warfare more dramatic and emotional by imbuing it with
sentimental elements of romance. He heightens the novel’s drama
by pitting the Indian figure of good, Uncas, against the Indian
figure of evil, Magua, in a contest for the love of a white girl,
Cora Munro. Cooper uses the two men’s interracial desires, so different
in intent and tone, to give psychological depth to the otherwise
simple opposition between white and Indian. Cooper thus creates
a hybrid genre, frontier romance, by linking sentiment and war.
2. Discuss
the relationship between history and fiction in The Last
of the Mohicans. How do historical events relate to the
literary genres that classify Cooper’s novel?
While the actual historical event of the
French and Indian War (1757) frames this
novel, Cooper uses history primarily as a springboard for the imagined
relationships among his fictional characters. Moreover, the historical
setting is not realistic. Cooper might mention one or two real battles,
but he intentionally tempers this realism with such devices as outlandish
disguises and improbable last-minute heroics. Cooper includes the
comic effects of Hawkeye dressed as a bear and Chingachgook disguised
as a beaver. The Last of the Mohicans is a romance,
a genre deriving from the British Romantic movement of the early
nineteenth century that emphasizes imagination over reason and allows
for comedy. Cooper uses history as a frame and fills it with the
imaginative movements of the romance plot.
3. What role
does the concept of the frontier play in The Last of the
Mohicans?
For Europeans, the frontier was almost uncharted
territory, land not yet controlled by a government or divided up
into parcels. The wilds of the frontier seem to inspire illicit
desires, such as Uncas’s and Cora’s desire for one another. It also
seems an appropriate backdrop for outbreaks of violence such as
the Indians’ sudden massacre of the English at Fort William Henry.
The frontier allows for communion with nature. Hawkeye lives the
idealized version of frontier life. A mixture of white and Indian
cultures, Hawkeye lives according to the natural rhythms of the
landscape, which encourage and celebrate his long-lasting friendship
with the Mohican Chingachgook. The Last of the Mohicans prizes
nature over European civilization.
Suggested Essay Topics
1. The Native Americans in Cooper’s
novel seem either entirely good (Uncas and Chingachgook) or entirely
evil (Magua and most of the Hurons). Are there any believable Indian characters
in the novel? Is Cooper guilty of invoking racial stereotypes in
his portrayal of Indians?
2. Compare and contrast the father-son
relationship of Chingachgook and Uncas with the father-daughter relationship
of Munro and his daughters.
3. In what way is Hawkeye the
hero of the book? As the hero, why isn’t Hawkeye involved in either
of the novel’s love stories?
4. Discuss three examples of
the clash between races or cultures. What do the three examples
show about Cooper’s views on racism?
5. The nineteenth-century language
of the novel can seem excessively formal and elaborate to modern
readers. Do you think the novel’s language interferes with the excitement
of its story? Why or why not?
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