Last of the Mohicans

Introduction “Last of the Mohicans” is considered the first great American novel. Written in 1826 by James Fenimore Cooper, its setting is the frontier America of 1757, during the French and Indian War. The novel focuses on a white man, Natty (also known as Hawk-eye), who had been raised by the last of the Mohican tribe: Chingachgook. The plot centers on him trying to protect the daughter of a British Colonel against a rival Native American tribe in the midst of the war.

The following clips are from the 1992 film adaption of the book: Watch them in order https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyrPzy6y_IA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omkIwWGYfWQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8cOkz3uNHg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT6DoaTdAGY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX_R8KSCyII (words are on the next slide)

Final Quote from the film Chingachgook: “The frontier moves with the sun and pushes the Red Man of these wilderness forests in front of it until one day there will be nowhere left. Then our race will be no more, or be not us.... The frontier place is for people like my white son and his woman and their children. And one day there will be no more frontier. And men like you will go too, like the Mohicans. And new people will come, work, struggle. Some will make their life. But once, we were here.”

Questions to answer in complete sentences Why do you think Cooper chose this setting for his book? How did the scenes you saw depict the land of America and the people of America (represented by Hawk-eye)? Imagine you are in an industrializing city Europe, reading this book when it was first published. How would this book make you think of America? Analyze the quote from Chingachgook. How did this book/film depict the Native Americans? How does this book/film represent a change in the people of the frontier?