Native American Symbolism
The Last of the Mohicans, written by James Fenimore Cooper is part of a popular series of books about adventure set in the New England forest with Hawkeye, a white scout. Through this novel an new identity of America is created as man, nature, civilization and wilderness clash. Cooper creates an "American" hero as he depicts the life a white man, living by the ways of the native on the threshold of civilization.
In The Last of the Mohicans, Cooper writes about the new civilization in America, the idea of non-natives and the battle to tame the wilderness. To an even greater complexity the English and the French are battling for possession of a land they do not understand. Much like the white settlers, these two armies fight over a land they cannot comprehend. Here the reader sees that America is still wilderness and in order to survive the wilderness one must blend with nature or be destroyed by it. One of the most important moments in the book is when Hawkeye and his Native American cohorts save the lives of the Munro sisters, Duncan and David. This small party is traveling to Fort William Henry where the sisters will reunite with their father and Duncan can ask of Alice's hand in marriage. Time and again Cooper introduces characters untrained in the wilds of the American wilderness. Cora and Alice symbolize civilization in betwixt opposing forces. David and Duncan symbolize European ideals that do not mesh with their present environment. They are all innocents attempting to survive their new home. None of these characters understand the wilderness or how to cope with nature's complexities. Because of their inexperience they are lead astray. Magua, a very evil scout was leading the naïve party astray to be captured by his fellow natives but as fortune would have it the troupe stumbled upon the ever "-good" Hawkeye and company. Cooper is establishing a wonderful pattern here that will prove that it is not the inherent goodness or badness...
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