The Last Of The Mohicans

Bibliography
The Last of the Mohicans. Produced by Michael Mann. 1 hour 54 minutes.
1992.
Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1983.
The French and Indian War of the eighteenth century had uniquely complex
qualities, matched by the gravity of its outcome. The myriad of cultures
involved the French, Canadian, American, English, Algonquians, and Iroquois
whom make this era fascinating. The multi-ethnic element made it a war built
upon fragile alliances, often undermined by factional disputes and shifting
fortunes. Violent as it was, its battlefields encompassed some of the most
beautiful country to be found anywhere. Its richness in diverse cultures, the
severity of its bloody violence, and the beauty of its landscape, all combine to
make this an era with great depth of interest. It is entertaining and educational to
witness a re-enactment event of a historical film and novel called The Last of the
Mohicans.
In the wake of the 1992 debates about Columbus, the discovery of the Americas,
and whether terms such as 'holocaust', 'genocide', and 'racism' should be applied
to what happened to Native Americans, Michael Mann's film remake of James
Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans continues a process of historical
erasure or forgetting that Cooper and his contemporaries began. The sentimental
racism expressed in Cooper's novel involves the ideas of the auto-genocide of
'savagery' and the inevitable extinction of all Native Americans. Though Mann
purported to take great pains in his film to be historically accurate, the film is
only accurate in relation to trivial details. It thoroughly scrambles major aspects
of Cooper's text, including converting the ageing Natty Bumppo into a young
sex symbol (Daniel Day-Lewis). More importantly, the film completely erases
Cooper's sentimental racism by, for instance, turning Chingachgook rather than
his son, Uncas, into the 'last' of his tribe, and thereby overlooking the motif of
the futureless child central to that racism. But in eliminating Cooper's racism,
the film in a sense perfects the novel, because the sentimentalism that softened
the racism was already a form of erasure or forgetting.
Reading the novel, The Last of the Mohicans, I was actually able to appreciate
Cooper’s work, as it was interesting and very different from the movie. While it
is true that he is long-winded and very shallowly treats character development, I
think that the original work does merit its study. I found that Cooper clearly
portrayed the different values of two cultures. The readers can witness two
cultures in conflict of political, moral, and religious issues. I think that Cooper
did not develop his characters, not because of his inability, but rather because of
his unwillingness. If David had been revealed to us thoroughly, would we have
been able to objectively witness his role as a white settler? Certainly, if Magua’s
motivations had been opened up to the audience, Cooper would no longer
present him as the “savage Indian.” I enjoyed Cooper because of his shallow
characters. His portrayal of their behaviors was unclouded by personal
influence; they merely represented the culture from which they came. Many
stunning examples of this representation were evident throughout the tale. While
early in their adventures the settlers found themselves stranded on an island
while being pursued by Magua and his companions, David, feeling secure in this
position and unaware of the severity of their situations, begins to sing. This
singing immediately alerts the Indians to their position. While this action
seemed foolish to the reader, it clearly represented the European settler in “the
wilderness”, as Cooper would have wanted to portray it. Learning about cultures
is very important in understanding the main picture of world history.
Other values of the two cultures abound. The issue of honor is raised soon after
Uncas claims his position as chief. He allows Magua to leave with Cora,
knowing that while it is morally wrong, she is (by Indian customs of law) his
property—won fairly. This decision would have been drastically different if laid
in the hands of a European settler. The different values and the conflicts raised
by them are extraordinary. By avoiding personal development of the characters,
and by accentuating the differences between the two worlds, Cooper is able to
objectively describe both. While this may seem to be an unusual manner in
which to read a novel, it is one in which I was able to appreciate the work. I find
it extremely important to place a novel in historical and cultural context. His
work was much different, as was the world he wrote about. The novel he created
was, and is, an accurate description of his world and the world he wished to
convey. It is in this context that we must appreciate it.
The Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper, revolves around the
theme of captivity and the drama of the clash between Indian and European
cultures. It involves white victims of captivity by Indians. Their record keeping
of the tragedy provided the Puritan audience with a personal story of raids and
forced marches, the wilderness and its native inhabitants, and of the chilling
efforts of Indians and Frenchmen to assimilate their captives into an alien
culture. Cooper follows all of that, plus gives the reader the opportunity to see
the white man from an Indians point of view. He does this by providing emotion
for the Indians, specifically, Magua and the noble Huron warrior.
The victims were innocently held captive by barbaric and cold Indians. These
victims lost their families to gunshots, stabbings by spears, and being knocked
down by their hatchets. A woman lost her child to an Indian selfishly trying to
signal an exchange of the baby for a shawl. The ferocious Indian held the baby
by its feet and teased the woman for an exchange. Upon seeing her desperate for
her child, he struck the baby's head into a rock dropping the remains at the
woman's feet. There was no sense in resisting these warriors because the
punishment would be far worse than the resentment. Cooper led his character
Cora, of African-American and Caucasian ancestry, to die because of her race,
even after she tried to reason with Tamenund. Every reader has his/her own
criteria for judging a novel. For me, a good novel is one, which draws me in and
makes me feel a part of the story. A good novel will make me well acquainted
with the characters and through them, will ultimately teach me something about
myself or about the world around me. But I feel in this part, Cooper is somewhat
weak in all of these respects with the novel The Last of the Mohicans. His over-
emphasis on action and adventure dominate all other “would be” aspects of the
novel, rendering it unrealistic, often to the point of being ridiculous. Cooper’s
obsession with action virtually negates all development of character. His
characters seem to exist only as tools for carrying out the all-too-predictable
action. If a particular character doesn’t fit into his plan, he simply drops them
from the narrative, leaving the reader to wonder about the plight of the
character. For example, the character of David Gamut simply disappears upon
the group’s arrival at Fort William Henry (147), not to appear again for over
twenty pages of text, with no explanation of his whereabouts. These
disappearing acts are very distracting and prevent the reader from being drawn
into the novel and becoming acquainted with the characters.
The Last of the Mohicans attempts to read as a work of historical fiction in its
portrayal of the relations between the natives and the “pale-faces.” However, its
unbelievable events make it almost laughable. Cooper just loses all credibility
when he tries to make the reader believe that Chingachgook was able to
successfully disguise himself as a beaver. These actions make it difficult to
approach the novel with any degree of seriousness or respect. Though the film is
not heavy on story, The Last of the Mohicans is an immensely satisfying
adventure that makes lavish use of the wide screen as it explores the landscapes
of the really "Old West," while paying great attention to detail in costumes and
set design as it re-creates the period. Mann goes to great pains to recreate the
actual living conditions at the time of his story. But it is the action — hand-to-
hand combat, characters racing through the trees and along cliffsides, jumping
into waterfalls, and the images of huge blazing cannons alternating with the
explosions of flintlock rifles that keep this movie going.
Mann’s film is quite an improvement on Cooper’s all but unreadable book.
Much has been made about how authentic the movie is, about how the cast
learned wilderness survival skills and how every bow, arrow, canoe and
moccasin was constructed according to the ancient ways. There are just enough
historical and political details; the movie touches quickly on the fine points of
British-French-Indian-settler conflicts, so that they can get on to the story we’re
really interested in, about the hero who wins the heart of the girl. There were
great action and suspense scenes as courage was all over. This is Hollywood at
its best and its worst. The soldiers’ uniforms are splendid, but idiotically ornate
and impractical for warfare. It wasn’t until 1916 that the British and French
stopped wearing the bright clothing, as they were easy target colors. True, the
movie perpetuates the Hollywood mystery of uniforms that stay pressed,
immaculate, spotless, and dustless, even after long sweaty marches in the
wilderness. The Indians seem accurately described, both from the point of view
of the historian and political correctness. There are no dialogs to speak of, no
historical, anthropological, geographic, political, social, explanations or
orientation. So you don’t learn much about world history from their
conversations and dialogue. What you do grasp about the history of this period
is by soaking in the environment, traditions, rules, surroundings, behaviors,
clothing, and styles of living.
The movie and novel of The Last of the Mohicans are both great representations
of the French and Indian War as they are attempts to resurrect and redefine the
American hero. There was an emphasis on the concept that no man has
dominion over another. The novel and film both have strong and weak parts that
help us understand and to learn the styles and ways of this time period. They are
both great tools for learning about modern world history in their own ways
about war and tragedy. The Last of the Mohicans is a bold and stirring story that
will always be very memorable adventure years to come.