James Fenimore Cooper's most famous work, The Last of the Mohicans', has often been described as unreadable by modern audiences. It is fair to state that Cooper wrote with an overly descriptive style, but then it is not very different to that of other authors of his time. The book was first published in 1826 and takes the French Indian War of 1757 as its subject matter. The pacing of the story is uneven, and Cooper makes many presumptions about the readers knowledge regarding the history his story is set against. Some of the dialogue is stilted, especially that used by David Gamut, a psalmist who does little useful in most of the book. There are some passages written entirely in French without any translation. Also, Cooper's style of writing changes occasionally, from that of a narrator to that of someone writing to himself only.
At its heart, The Last of the Mohicans has an epic adventure story set in a time when Europeans were still relatively new to the Americas and the indigenous natives had not yet realised the true threat that they would pose. The English and the French are at war again in Europe and it has spread to their American colonies. The various native Americans choose to either support one side or the other or, as was equally acceptable to them, not to get involved at all. Magua, a Huron warrior, has a deeply held grudge against the British Colonel Munro, father of Cora and Alice. When he sees a chance to prosecute his vengeance by kidnapping the sisters, he turns betrayer. This event brings Hawkeye and his adoptive father, Chingachgook, and brother, Uncas, into the story, they are of course the last of the Mohicans referred to in the title.
Cooper remains surprisingly noncommittal on various subjects regarding the many tribes, such as violence, religion, feuds, and their involvement with the Europeans. Although Gamut represents an almost fervent Christianity he is countered by Hawkeye, a white man raised by the Mohicans, who argues that the Great Spirit and the Christian God are one and the same, just seen in different perspectives. The arguments are not particularly refined, but they do not condemn the Indians as heathens either.
The violence contained in the book has been criticised for its graphic display and that it is never followed by any kind of justification or condemnation. Indeed, I think that this is one of Cooper's finer points in writing. The violence portrayed belongs with the time in which it was enacted. The frontier was a dangerous place. People died quickly and often; sometimes brutally. Cooper did not sanitise his story for the benefit of a more affected readership in the 19th century and it seems disingenuous to suggest that it should be edited that way today. Also, the brutality was not limited to the tribes, it was committed by all peoples irrespective of the colour of their skin.
The wilderness of 18th century America makes a beautiful backdrop against which the adventure plays out. The fate of Uncas is a poetic metaphor regarding the coming devastation not just to the Delaware nation, but the peoples of the plains and the deserts further west as well. The rise of the Manifest Destiny that would lead to the European conquest of the continent is already evident in Cooper's writing. It is in many ways a sad story. The motives of the many originate in greed, the acquisition of property and power, of revenge and murder, as well as to escape the spread of European influence and domination. There are some nobler sentiments, however. Cora has a rare ability to see past the colour of a person's skin. It is true that Cooper tried to make her romance with Uncas more acceptable to his audience by suggesting that she was not wholly white, what with her darker hair and complexion contrasting with Alice's blond hair and fairer skin, but she is often the source of the book's humanism. Quite contrarily, Hawkeye, friend to the Indian, is also one of their greatest detractors, referring to them as imps and never short of a reason to shoot one as an enemy.
For modern audiences the book might seem like something as a challenge today, but it is one that should be accepted and conquered. The story is captivating and if two young European women can brave the dangers of the adventure then it seems sad that prospective readers should fail to rise to the test of turning a page and discovering a deeply relevant tale.
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