The film is the last of the Mohicans. "Last of the Mohicans
In the wars between the British and French for the possession of American lands (1755-1763), opponents more than once used the civil strife of Indian tribes. The times were hard and cruel. Danger lurked at every turn. And it is not surprising that the girls who were traveling, accompanied by Major Duncan Hayward to the commander of the besieged fort, were worried. Alice and Cora were especially worried - that was the name of the sisters - the Magua Indian, nicknamed the Sly Fox. He volunteered to lead them along a supposedly safe forest path. Duncan calmed the girls, although he himself began to worry: are they really lost?
Fortunately, in the evening the travelers met Hawkeye - this name was already firmly entrenched in St. John's wort - and not alone, but with Chingachgook and Uncas. An Indian who got lost in the woods during the day?! Hawkeye was more alert than Duncan. He offers the major to grab the guide, but the Indian manages to sneak away. Now no one doubts the betrayal of the Indian Magua. With the help of Chingachgook and his son Uncas, Hawkeye ferries travelers to a small rocky island.
In continuation of a modest dinner, "Uncas renders Cora and Alice all the services that were in his power." Noticeably - he pays more attention to Cora than to her sister. However, the danger has not yet passed. Attracted by the loud wheezing of horses frightened by wolves, the Indians find their refuge. Skirmish, then hand-to-hand. The first onslaught of the Hurons is repelled, but the besieged have run out of ammunition. Salvation is only in flight - unbearable, alas, for girls. It is necessary to swim at night, along the rapids and cold mountain river. Cora urges Hawkeye to run with Chingachgook and get help as soon as possible. Longer than other hunters, she has to convince Uncas: the Major and the sisters are in the hands of Magua and his friends.
The kidnappers and captives stop on the hill to rest. Cunning Fox reveals to Kore the target of the kidnapping. It turns out that her father, Colonel Munro, once severely insulted him, ordering him to be whipped for drinking. And now, in revenge, he will marry his daughter. Cora angrily refuses. And then Magua decides to brutally deal with the prisoners. The sisters and the major are tied to trees, brushwood is laid out nearby for a fire. The Indian persuades Cora to agree, at least to take pity on her sister, who is very young, almost a child. But Alice, having learned about Magua's intention, prefers a painful death.
An enraged Magua throws a tomohawk. The hatchet plunges into the tree, pinning the girl's lush blond hair. The major breaks free of his bonds and rushes at one of the Indians. Duncan is almost defeated, but a shot rings out and the Indian falls. This arrived in time Hawkeye and his friends. After a short battle, the enemies are defeated. Magua, pretending to be dead and seizing the moment, runs again.
Dangerous wanderings end happily - the travelers reach the fort. Under the cover of fog, despite the French besieging the fort, they manage to get inside. The father finally saw his daughters, but the joy of the meeting was overshadowed by the fact that the defenders of the fort were forced to surrender, however, on honorable conditions for the British: the defeated retain banners, weapons and can freely retreat to their own.
At dawn, burdened with the wounded, as well as children and women, the garrison leaves the fort. Nearby, in a narrow wooded gorge, Indians attack the wagon train. Magua kidnaps Alice and Cora again.
On the third day after this tragedy, Colonel Munro, along with Major Duncan, Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas, inspect the site of the massacre. From barely noticeable traces, Uncas concludes: the girls are alive - they are in captivity. Moreover, by continuing the inspection, the Mohican reveals the name of their captor - Magua! After conferring, the friends set off on an extremely dangerous journey: to the homeland of the Sly Fox, to areas inhabited mainly by the Hurons. With adventures, losing and finding traces again, the pursuers finally find themselves near the village of the Hurons.
Here they meet the psalmist David, who, having a reputation as an imbecile, voluntarily followed the girls. From David, the colonel learns about the situation of his daughters: he left Alice Magua with him, and sent Cora to the Delawares living in the neighborhood, on the lands of the Hurons. Duncan, who is in love with Alice, wants to get into the village by all means. Pretending to be a fool, changing his appearance with the help of Hawkeye and Chingachgook, he goes on reconnaissance. In the Huron camp, he pretends to be a French doctor, and he, like David, is allowed to go everywhere by the Hurons. To Duncan's dismay, the captive Uncas is brought to the village. At first, the Hurons take him for an ordinary prisoner, but Magua appears and recognizes the Swift Deer. The hated name arouses such wrath of the Hurons that, if not for the Sly Fox, the young man would have been torn to pieces on the spot. Magua convinces the tribesmen to postpone the execution until the morning. Uncas is taken to a separate hut. The father of a sick Indian woman turns to the doctor Duncan for help. He goes to the cave where the sick woman lies, accompanied by the girl's father and a tame bear. Duncan asks everyone to leave the cave. The Indians obey the demand of the "healer" and go out, leaving the bear in the cave. The bear is transforming - Hawkeye is hiding under the animal skin! With the help of a hunter, Duncan discovers Alice hidden in a cave - but then Magua appears. The sly Fox triumphs. But not for long.
The "bear" grabs the Indian and squeezes him in an iron embrace, the major ties the hands of the villain. But from the excitement experienced, Alice cannot take a single step. The girl is wrapped in Indian clothes, and Duncan - accompanied by a "bear" - takes her outside. The father of the sick self-styled "healer", referring to the power of the Evil Spirit, orders to stay and guard the exit from the cave. The trick succeeds - the fugitives safely reach the forest. At the edge of the forest, Hawkeye shows Duncan the path leading to the Delawares and returns to free Uncas. With the help of David, he deceives the warriors guarding the Swift Deer and hides with the Mohican in the forest. An enraged Magua, who is found in a cave and freed from his bonds, calls on his fellow tribesmen for revenge.
The next morning, at the head of a strong military detachment, the Sly Fox sets off for the Delawares. Having hidden the detachment in the forest, Magua enters the village. He appeals to the Delaware leaders, demanding to hand over the captives. The leaders, deceived by the eloquence of the Cunning Fox, agreed, but after the intervention of Kora, it turns out that in reality only she is the prisoner of Magua - all the others freed themselves. Colonel Munro offers a rich ransom for Cora - the Indian refuses. Uncas, who unexpectedly became the supreme leader, is forced to release Magua along with the captive. In parting, Sly Fox is warned: after enough time has passed for flight, the Delawares will set foot on the warpath.
Soon, military operations, thanks to the able leadership of Uncas, bring a decisive victory to the Delawares. The Hurons are broken. Magua, having captured Cora, flees. Swift Deer pursues the enemy. Realizing that they cannot escape, the last of the surviving companions of the Sly Fox raises a knife over Kora. Uncas, seeing that he might not be in time, throws himself from the cliff between the girl and the Indian, but falls and loses consciousness. Huron kills Cora. Swift-footed Deer manages to defeat the killer, but Magua, seizing the moment, plunges a knife into the young man's back and takes off running. A shot sounds - Hawkeye pays off with the villain.
Orphaned people, orphaned fathers, solemn farewell. The Delawares have just lost their found leader - the last of the Mohicans (sagamore), but one leader will be replaced by another; the colonel had a younger daughter; Chingachgook lost everything. And only Hawkeye, turning to the Great Serpent, finds words of consolation: “No, sagamore, you are not alone! We may be different in skin color, but we are destined to follow the same path. I have no relatives and I can say, like you, I don’t have my own people.
Perhaps, throughout the vast stretch of frontier that separated the possessions of the French from the territory of the English colonies of North America, there are no more eloquent monuments of the cruel and ferocious wars of 1755-1763 than in the area lying at the headwaters of the Hudson and near the neighboring lakes. This area provided such conveniences for the movement of troops that they could not be neglected.
The waters of Champlain stretched from Canada and deep into the New York colony; consequently, Lake Champlain served as the most convenient way of communication, along which the French could sail up to half the distance separating them from the enemy.
Near the southern edge of Lake Champlain, the crystal clear waters of Horiken, the Holy Lake, merge with it.
The holy lake meanders between countless islets, and is crowded by low coastal mountains. In bends it stretches far to the south, where it rests on a plateau. From this point began the many miles of portage, which brought the traveler to the banks of the Hudson; here navigation along the river became convenient, since the current was free from rapids.
In carrying out their military plans, the French tried to penetrate into the most remote and inaccessible gorges of the Allegheny Mountains and turned their attention to the natural advantages of the region we have just described. Indeed, it soon turned into a bloody arena of numerous battles, with which the warring parties hoped to solve the issue of possession of colonies.
Here, in the most important places, towering over the surrounding roads, fortresses grew; they were seized first by one, then the other hostile side; they were either torn down or rebuilt again, depending on whose banner was flying over the fortress.
While peaceful farmers tried to stay away from dangerous mountain gorges, hiding in ancient settlements, numerous military forces went deep into virgin forests. Few returned from there, exhausted by hardships and hardships, discouraged by failures.
Although this restless region did not know peaceful crafts, its forests were often enlivened by the presence of man.
Under the canopy of branches and in the valleys, the sounds of marches were heard, and the echo in the mountains repeated the laughter, then the screams of many, many carefree young brave men who, in their prime, hastened here to sink into the deep sleep of a long night of oblivion.
It was in this arena of bloody wars that the events that we will try to tell about unfolded. Our narrative dates back to the third year of the war between France and England, fighting for power over a country that was not destined to be held in their hands by either side.
The dullness of the generals abroad, and the pernicious inactivity of the councilors at court, have robbed Great Britain of that proud prestige which had been won for her by the talent and courage of her former warriors and statesmen. The British troops were defeated by a handful of French and Indians; this unexpected defeat left much of the frontier unguarded. And now, after real disasters, many imaginary, imaginary dangers have grown. In every gust of wind that wafted from the boundless forests, the frightened settlers seemed to have wild cries and the ominous howl of the Indians.
Under the influence of fear, the danger assumed unprecedented proportions; common sense could not fight the troubled imagination. Even the most daring, self-confident and energetic began to doubt the favorable outcome of the struggle. The number of cowardly and cowardly increased incredibly; it seemed to them that in the near future all the American possessions of England would become the property of the French or be devastated by the Indian tribes - the allies of France.
Therefore, when news came to the English fortress, towering in the southern part of the plateau between the Hudson and the lakes, about the appearance of the Marquis of Montcalm near Champlain, and idle chatterers added that this general was moving with a detachment "in which the soldier is like leaves in the forest," terrible the message was received with cowardly resignation rather than with the stern satisfaction that a warrior should feel when he finds an enemy near him. The news of Montcalm's advance came at the height of summer; it was brought by an Indian at the hour when the day was already drawing to a close. Together with the terrible news, the messenger conveyed to the camp commander the request of Munro, the commandant of one of the forts on the shores of the Holy Lake, to immediately send him strong reinforcements. The distance between the fort and the fortress, which the inhabitant of the forests covered for two hours, a military detachment, with its wagon train, could cover between sunrise and sunset. Loyal supporters of the English crown named one of these fortifications Fort William Henry, and the other Fort Edward, after the princes of the royal family. Munro, a veteran Scot, commanded Fort William Henry. It contained one of the regular regiments and a small detachment of volunteer colonists; it was a garrison too small to deal with the advancing forces of Montcalm.
The post of commandant in the second fortress was held by General Webb; under his command was a royal army numbering over five thousand people. If Webb had united all his dispersed troops, he could have brought forward twice as many soldiers against the enemy as the enterprising Frenchman who dared to go so far from his replenishment with an army not much larger than the British.
However, frightened by failures, the English generals and their subordinates preferred to wait in their fortress for the approach of a formidable enemy, not risking going out to meet Montcalm in order to surpass the successful performance of the French at Fort Duquesne, give the enemy a battle and stop him.
When the first excitement caused by the terrible news subsided, in the camp, protected by trenches and located on the banks of the Hudson in the form of a chain of fortifications that covered the fort itself, there was a rumor that a hundred and fifty hundred selected detachment should move at dawn from the fortress to Fort William Henry. This rumor was soon confirmed; learned that several detachments received orders to hastily prepare for the campaign. All doubts about Webb's intentions dissipated, and for two or three hours hurried running was heard in the camp, anxious faces flickered. The recruit anxiously scurried back and forth, fussed and with his excessive zeal only slowed down the preparations for the performance; the experienced veteran armed himself quite calmly, unhurriedly, although his stern features and worried look clearly showed that the terrible struggle in the forests did not particularly please his heart.
At last the sun disappeared in a stream of radiance in the west behind the mountains, and when the night enveloped this secluded place with its cover, the noise and bustle of the preparations for the campaign ceased; the last light went out in the log cabins of the officers; the dense shadows of the trees lay on the earthen ramparts and the babbling stream, and in a few minutes the whole camp was plunged into the same silence that reigned in the neighboring dense forests.
According to the order given the evening before, the deep sleep of the soldiers was disturbed by the deafening roar of the drums, and a rolling echo carried far in the damp morning air, resoundingly resounding in every corner of the forest; day was breaking, the cloudless sky was brightening in the east, and the outlines of tall, shaggy pines stood out more distinctly and sharper in it. A minute later life began to boil in the camp; even the most negligent soldier rose to his feet to see the detachment march and, together with his comrades, to experience the excitement of this moment. The simple gathering of the acting detachment soon ended. The soldiers lined up in battle groups. Royal mercenaries flaunted on the right flank; the more modest volunteers, from among the settlers, dutifully took their places on the left.
Most famous and loved in the US and abroad Fenimore Cooper's novel The Last of the Mohicans(1826) is part of the so-called Leatherstocking Pentalogy, a cycle of five novels created in different time. This is "Pioneers" (1823), "Last of the Mohicans"(1826), "Prairie" (1827), "Pathfinder" (1840) and "Deerslayer" (1841). All of them are united by the image of the central character - the pioneer-pioneer Nathaniel (Natty) Bumpo, who acts under the nicknames Deerslayer, Pathfinder, Hawkeye, Long Carabiner, Leather Stocking and is shown in different years of his life. He is a twenty-year-old youth in Deerslayer (set in 1740), a mature man in The Last of the Mohicans and The Pathfinder (1750s), an elderly man in The Pioneers (late 18th century) and a very old man in The Prairie "(1805).
The fate of Natty Bumpo is dramatic: a tracker-scout, who once had no equal, in his declining days observes the end of the free and wild America he loved so much. He is lost among the clearings unfamiliar to him, does not understand the new laws introduced by the landowners, and feels like a stranger among the new owners of the country, although he once showed them the way and helped them settle down here.
Arranged not by the time of creation, but by the chronology of events, the novels of this cycle cover more than sixty years of American history, presented as a fictional history of the development of the frontier - the gradual movement of the nation from the northeast of the mainland ("St. John's Wort") to the west ("Prairie"). This is a romantic historiography. The fate of Natty Bumpo, like a drop of water, reflected the process of the development of the mainland and the formation of American civilization, which included both spiritual ups and moral losses. Admittedly, the Leatherstocking pentalogy is the best that Cooper has written; it was she who brought posthumous fame to her creator.
At the same time, one cannot fail to notice some inconsistencies in the plots of the novels, as well as their stereotypes. In each of them, Leatherstocking helps someone, rescues someone from trouble, saves them from death, and then, when his mission is over, he goes alone into the forests, and when there are no forests left, he goes to the prairie. However, if in the "Pioneers" the narrative is still somewhat abrupt and, as it were, tramples between tense action and boring moralization, then in the subsequent novels of the cycle, action determines everything. The course of events is rapidly accelerating, the intervals between the fatal shots of the Long Carbine are so short, the minutes of relative safety are so precarious, the rustle in the forest is so ominous that the reader knows no rest. The mature Cooper is an excellent storyteller, and the mere fact that he narrates in such an entertaining form about subjects of great seriousness - exploring the foundations of American society and national character - does him a great honor.
The Last of the Mohicans is the second most written novel in the pentalogy. It was written by an already mature author, who was in the prime of his creative powers and talent, and at the same time even before his departure for Europe, which marked the beginning of Cooper's life drama. The plot of the novel is built on the traditional for American literature, but romantically rethought by the author, "the story of captivity and deliverance." This is a story about the insidious capture of the virtuous daughters of Colonel Munro - the beautiful and brave black-eyed Cora and the blond, fragile and feminine Alice - by the cunning and cruel Huron Magua and about the repeated attempts of Hawkeye (Natty Bumpo) with the help of his true friends - the Mohican Indians Chingachgook and his son Uncas - Rescue the captives. The vicissitudes of the novel: persecution, traps and brutal fights noticeably complicate, but also decorate the plot, make it dynamic and allow in action to reveal the characters of the characters, introduce various pictures of American nature, show the exotic world of the "Redskins", give a description of the frontier life.
In Cooper's fictional exploration of the character of the courageous trailblazer, The Last of the Mohicans is an important milestone. Natti Bumpo is shown here at the zenith of his life: his personality is already fully formed, and he is still full of strength and energy. The author's writing skills also took shape: the romantically isolated character of the hero appears alive and natural. He is immersed here in his true environment - the element of untouched American forests, and therefore his permanent properties are clearly manifested: simplicity, selflessness, generosity, fearlessness, self-sufficiency and spiritual power. They reflect his organic connection with nature; they determine the uncompromising rejection by the hero of a civilization that is opposite to him in spirit.
Natty Bumpo is the first and ideal original hero of national literature, and his love of freedom, independence, self-sufficiency and uncompromising nature, associated with the natural principle, will constantly echo in the characters of US literature - in Melville's Ishmael, Twain's Huck Finn, Faulkner's McCaslin, Hemingway's Nick Adams, Salinger's Holden Caulfield and many, many others.
Fenimore Cooper's full-fledged character is the mighty and majestic nature of America. In The Last of the Mohicans, it is the many-sided landscape of the Hudson River region. In addition to purely artistic, aesthetic, it has another very important function, which is different from the function of the landscape in the works of European romantics, where nature is the personification of the soul of the hero. Cooper, like other American nativist romantics, gravitates not to the lyrical, but to the epic depiction of nature: the landscape becomes for him one of the means of asserting national identity, a necessary component of the epic story about a young country.
An equally, if not more effective means of revealing national specifics is the depiction of the Indians, their exotic way of life, their colorful rituals, the incomprehensible and contradictory Indian character. Fenimore Cooper displays in The Last of the Mohicans (not to mention the entire pentalogy) a whole gallery of images of Native Americans: on the one hand, these are the cunning, treacherous, "evil and ferocious" Huron Magua, on the other, Natty's brave, persistent and devoted best friends Bumpo, the former leader of the exterminated Mohican tribe, the wise and faithful Chingachguk and his son, "the last of the Mohicans", the young and ardent Uncas, who is dying in vain trying to save Cora Munro. The novel ends with a colorful and deeply moving scene of the funeral rite over Cora and Uncas, whose death symbolizes the tragedy of the Indian people, the "disappearing race" of America.
The polarization of the characters of the Indians (condensation of their positive or negative properties) is connected in The Last of the Mohicans with the peculiarities and conventions of romantic aesthetics.
Fenimore Cooper, with his conditional "good" and "evil" Indians helping or opposing a white man, laid the foundation for a new, although also largely mythologized perception of the Native American in national literature and had a huge impact on US culture, developing the genre parameters of the western.
Thus, the life on the frontier and the image of the "red-skin" shown by Cooper so impressively and artistically expressively appear less aesthetically perfect, but more reliable and by no means arbitrary, in Native American prose.
Read also other articles in the section "Literature of the 19th century. Romanticism. Realism":
Artistic discovery of America and other discoveries
Romantic nativism and romantic humanism
- Features of American Romanticism. Romantic nativism
- romantic humanism. Transcendentalism. Travel prose
National history and the history of the soul of the people
History and Modernity of America in Dialogues of Cultures
- Cooper. Analysis of the novel "The Last of the Mohicans"
In 1826 Fenimore Cooper wrote his novel The Last of the Mohicans. A summary of it is presented in this article. In his book, the author was one of the first to describe the originality of the customs and the spiritual world of the American Indians. The genre of historical novel is The Last of the Mohicans. Its summary, like the work itself, unfolds in the middle of the 18th century. So let's get down to the story of this book.
The author of the work "The Last of the Mohicans", a summary of which we describe, tells that in the wars that unfolded between the French and the British for possession of the lands of America (1755-1763), the warring parties more than once used for their own purposes the civil strife of local Indian tribes. It was a very cruel and difficult time. It is not surprising that the girls, traveling to their father, the commander of the besieged fort, accompanied by Duncan Hayward, a major, were worried. The Indian Magua, nicknamed the Sly Fox, was especially worried about Cora and Alice (that was the name of the sisters). This man volunteered to guide them along a safe forest path. Hayward reassured his companions, although he began to worry: maybe they got lost? By continuing to read the summary of the novel "The Last of the Mohicans", you will find out if this is so.
Meeting with Hawkeye, exposure and escape of Magua
In the evening, fortunately, the travelers met Hawkeye (a nickname firmly attached to St. John's wort). Besides, he was not alone, but with Uncas and Chingachgook. An Indian who got lost in the woods during the day?! Far more alarmed than Duncan was Hawkeye. He suggested that he grab the guide, but he managed to escape. No one else doubts that the Magua Indian is a traitor. With the help of Chingachgook, as well as Uncas, his son, Hawkeye ferries the arrivals to a small rocky island.
Chingachgook and Hawkeye go for help
Further, the summary of the book "The Last of the Mohicans" describes a modest dinner, during which Uncas provides Alice and Kora with all kinds of services. It is noticeable that he pays more attention to the latter than to her sister. The Indians, attracted by the wheezing of the horses, frightened by the wolves, find their refuge. A shootout followed, followed by hand-to-hand combat. The first onslaught of the Hurons is repulsed, but the besieged have no more ammunition left. It remains only to run, which, alas, is unbearable for girls. You need to swim at night along a cold and rapid mountain river. Cora suggests that Hawkeye go with Chingachgook to bring help. She has to convince Uncas longer than other hunters: the sisters and the major end up in the hands of Magua, the villain created by Fenimore Cooper ("The Last of the Mohicans").
The captives and kidnappers stop to rest on a hill. The sly Fox tells Kora why they were kidnapped. Colonel Munro, her father, as it turned out, once insulted him very much, ordering him to be whipped for drunkenness. In retaliation, he is going to take his daughter as his wife. Cora resolutely refuses. Magua decides to brutally deal with his prisoners. The major and the sisters are tied to trees, near which brushwood is laid out to light a fire. The Indian advises Kora to agree, if only for the sake of her young sister, still practically a child. However, having learned about what Magua demands from Cora in return for their lives, the brave heroine of The Last of the Mohicans prefers to die painfully. The chapter summary does not describe in detail all the misadventures of the girls. Let's move on to the story of their salvation.
Save the girls
The Indian throws the tomohawk. An ax plunges into the tree, pinning Cora's blond hair. The major breaks free of his bonds and pounces on the Indian. Duncan is almost defeated, but a shot is heard, the Indian falls. It was Hawkeye who arrived with his friends. The enemies are defeated after a short battle. Playing dead, Magua seizes the moment to run again.
Travelers arrive at the fort
Dangerous wanderings end happily - the travelers finally reach the fort. Despite the French besieging it, they manage to get inside under the cover of fog. Finally, the father sees his daughters. The defenders of the fort are forced to accept defeat, however, on conditions that are honorable for the British: the defeated retain their weapons and banners and can retreat unhindered to their own.
New Kidnapping of Cora and Alice
However, the misadventures of the main characters of the work "The Last of the Mohicans" do not end there. A summary of the further misfortunes that befell them is as follows. Burdened with wounded women and children, the garrison leaves the fort at dawn. In a close wooded gorge, located nearby, the Indians attack the wagon train. Once again, Magua kidnaps Cora and Alice.
Colonel Munro, Major Duncan, Uncas, Chingachgook and Hawkeye on the 3rd day after the tragedy inspect the battle site. Uncas concludes from barely noticeable traces that the girls are alive and that they are in captivity. Continuing to inspect this place, the Mohican even establishes that they were kidnapped by Magua! Friends, having consulted, go on a very dangerous journey. They decide to make their way to the homeland of the Sly Fox, to the lands inhabited mainly by the Hurons. Losing and finding traces again, experiencing many adventures, the pursuers finally find themselves near the village.
Saving Uncas, cunning reincarnation
Here they meet David, the psalmist, who, using his reputation as an imbecile, voluntarily followed the girls. From him, the colonel learns about what happened to his daughters: Magua left Alice with him, and sent Cora to the Delawares living on the lands of the Hurons in the neighborhood. Duncan, in love with Alice, wants to get into the village by all means. He decides to pretend to be a fool by changing his appearance with the help of Chingachgook and Hawkeye. In this form, Duncan goes on reconnaissance.
You are probably curious to know how the work "The Last of the Mohicans" continues? Reading the summary, of course, is not as interesting as the novel itself. Nevertheless, its plot, you see, is exciting.
Having reached the Huron camp, Duncan pretends to be a doctor from France. Just like David, he is allowed to go everywhere by the Hurons. To Duncan's dismay, the captive Uncas is brought to the village. At first he is mistaken for a simple prisoner, but Magua recognizes him as the Swift Deer. This name, hated by the Hurons, causes such anger that if the Sly Fox had not stood up for him, Uncas would have been immediately torn to pieces. However, Magua convinces his fellow tribesmen to postpone the execution until morning. Uncas is taken to a hut.
As a doctor, Duncan is approached by the father of an Indian woman who is ill with a request for help. He comes to the cave in which the patient lies, accompanied by a tame bear and the girl's father. Duncan asks to be left alone with the patient. The Indians obey this demand and leave, leaving the bear in the cave. He is transformed - it turns out that Hawkeye is hiding under an animal skin! Duncan, with the help of a hunter, discovers Alice hidden in a cave, but Magua appears. The Sly Fox triumphs. However, not for long. What then tells the reader Cooper ("The Last of the Mohicans")? The summary describes in general terms the further fate of the heroes.
Escape from captivity
The "bear" pounces on the Indian and squeezes him in his arms, and the major ties the hands of the villain. Alice from the experienced stress cannot take a single step. The girl is wrapped in Indian clothes and Duncan carries her out, accompanied by a "bear". The self-styled "healer" orders the patient's father to stay in order to guard the exit from the cave, referring to the power of the Evil Spirit. This trick succeeds - the fugitives reach the forest safely. Hawkeye at the edge of the forest shows the path to Duncan, which leads to the Delawares. He then returns to free Uncas. With the help of David, he deceives the warriors guarding the Swift Deer, and then hides in the forest with the Mohican. Magua is furious. He is discovered in a cave and released, he calls on his fellow tribesmen to take revenge.
Necessary sacrifice
At the head of a military detachment, Sly Fox decides to go to the Delawares. Magua, having hidden a detachment in the forest, enters the village and turns to the leaders with a demand to hand over the captives to him. The leaders, deceived by Magua's eloquence, at first agree, but Cora intervenes, who says that only she is the captive of the Cunning Fox - the rest have freed themselves. Colonel Munro promises a rich ransom for Cora, but the Indian refuses. Suddenly, Uncas, who has become the supreme leader, must release the Cunning Fox along with his captive. At parting, Magua is warned that after the time necessary for flight, the Delawares will go on the warpath.
dramatic ending
We turn to the description of the finale of the novel, the author of which is Cooper ("The Last of the Mohicans"). The summary does not convey, unfortunately, all of its drama. The hostilities soon bring a decisive victory for the tribe, thanks to Uncas' leadership. The Hurons are broken. After capturing Cora, Magua flees. The enemy is being chased by the Swift Deer. Realizing that it will not be possible to leave, the last of Magua's companions, who survived, raises a knife over the girl. Seeing that he might be late, Uncas throws himself off a cliff between an Indian and a girl, but falls and loses consciousness. Cora is killed. Swift Deer, however, manages to strike down her killer. Having seized the moment, Magua plunges a knife into the young man's back, after which he takes off running. A shot is heard - this is Hawkeye is dealt with the villain.
Thus the fathers were orphaned, the whole nation was orphaned. The Delawares had just lost their newfound leader, who was the last of the Mohicans. However, one leader can be replaced by another. The youngest daughter remained with the colonel. And Chingachgook lost everything. Only Hawkeye finds words of comfort. He turns to the Great Serpent and says that the sagamore is not alone. They may have different skin colors, but they are destined to follow the same path.
So ends his work F. Cooper ("The Last of the Mohicans"). We have described its summary only in general terms, since the work itself is quite large in volume, like all novels. The plot, as you can see, is very interesting. Readers are never bored by F. Cooper. "The Last of the Mohicans", a summary of which we have just described, is just one of the many works of this author. Familiarity with the work of Fenimore Cooper is a pleasure to many readers.
A novel not to be missed! He became a favorite for generations. Young people were equal to the heroes of this work, people at a more mature age also tried to do this. This is an adventure story with a certain spirit of adventurism. But there is also a tragedy in it, which cannot be read about without tears in the eyes. The death of Uncas reflects the dramatic fate of the indigenous population of America - the brave Indians, who were taken not only shelter, but also life.
The novel "The Last of the Mohicans", a brief summary of which is familiar to everyone from many films and cartoons, is the most popular creation. Written by the author in 1826, it is included in a cycle of five works with a common hero - Natty Bumpo or Leather Stocking. The whole cycle describes the character's life from early youth to old age. And before his eyes, the New World is turning from an almost deserted (with the exception of the red-skinned tribes) corner of the earth into a lively place. However, this process was not entirely positive: many good people also disappeared into oblivion, dying during the battle.
The end of wild, practically undeveloped America and describes the "Last of the Mohicans". The content of the novel is the brutal deforestation of virgin forests, violence against the rightful owners of the land - people who, ironically, were his compatriots. And worst of all, it was he, Natty, who helped them settle down and gain a foothold here.
"The Last of the Mohicans". Summary of the novel
To tell the story briefly, it describes General Munro, who came to the frontier with two beautiful daughters. However, at that time there was a war between the colonialists, in which they dragged the natives. It so happened that Cora and Alice are kidnapped by the Hurons, allies of the French, and Hawkeye (that is, Natty Bumpo), together with friends, are trying to free them. The hero is helped by already familiar Indians Chingachguk and his son Uncas, the last representatives of the Mohican tribe who survived.
The novel "The Last of the Mohicans", the summary of which cannot convey the whole exciting atmosphere, is filled with events. Violent fights, traps, persecution help to reveal the character of the characters, to show their positive and negative traits. All the action takes place in the bosom of amazing nature, which can act as an ally to positive characters. The customs of a civilization that is doomed to destruction are also very vividly described. Therefore, it is better to read the novel "The Last of the Mohicans" in full. The summary will not be able to reflect the depth of feelings that cover Chingachgook and Natty when they see the death of Uncas. The young man, with all his courage and enthusiasm, protects his beloved at the cost of his own life. However, this did not save Cora either - the enraged Magua managed to plunge his dagger into the girl's chest. The work ends with a touching funeral scene, from which the heart shrinks from pain.
What is a novel for contemporaries? An ode to courage, bravery, self-sacrifice. And he also became the beginning of a new genre in the literature and art of America - the western. Therefore, we can safely say that it was Cooper who laid the foundation for the further development of the culture of the American people. "The Last of the Mohicans" is undoubtedly a work that deserves your attention.