Review: The Last of the Mohicans

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's been a long time since I read this. I was last spurred to read it by The Last of the Mohicans (1992), starring Daniel Day-Lewis . That film adaptation impressed me for showing the Indians as sagacious, valiant, etc. and not just craven thugs familiar from many oaters. On this reading I was impressed with the high level of literary achievement -- certainly could be the first modern American novel. I love the epigrams on each chapter pulling quotes from Shakespeare, Pope, etc.

Also, the idealistic, proto-abolitionist ideas emergencing in such anti-racist notions as:

"Should we distrust the man because his manners are not our manners, and that his skin is dark?" coldly asked Cora.

and

"You'll know, already, Major Heyward, that my family was both ancient and honorable," commenced the Scotsman; "though it might not altogether be endowed with that amount of wealth that should correspond with its degree. I was, may be, such an one as yourself when I plighted my faith to Alice Graham, the only child of a neighboring laird of some estate. But the connection was disagreeable to her father, on more accounts than my poverty. I did therefore what an honest man should—restored the maiden her troth, and departed the country in the service of my king. I had seen many regions, and had shed much blood in different lands, before duty called me to the islands of the West Indies. There it was my lot to form a connection with one who in time became my wife, and the mother of Cora. She was the daughter of a gentleman of those isles, by a lady whose misfortune it was, if you will," said the old man, proudly, "to be descended, remotely, from that unfortunate class who are so basely enslaved to administer to the wants of a luxurious people. Ay, sir, that is a curse entailed on Scotland by her unnatural union with a foreign and trading people. But could I find a man among them who would dare to reflect on my child, he should feel the weight of a father's anger! Ha! Major Heyward, you are yourself born at the south, where these unfortunate beings are considered of a race inferior to your own." "'Tis most unfortunately true, sir," said Duncan, unable any longer to prevent his eyes from sinking to the floor in embarrassment. "And you cast it on my child as a reproach! You scorn to mingle the blood of the Heywards with one so degraded—lovely and virtuous though she be?" fiercely demanded the jealous parent.

"Heaven protect me from a prejudice so unworthy of my reason!" returned Duncan, at the same time conscious of such a feeling, and that as deeply rooted as if it had been ingrafted in his nature. "The sweetness, the beauty, the witchery of your younger daughter, Colonel Munro, might explain my motives, without imputing to me this injustice."

I was surprised to learn Cooper wasn't that committed of an abolitionist:

In his essay on slavery and his book about American notions, Cooper repeatedly stated that slavery was “evil.”19 However, he opposed immediate abolition. The stumbling blocks for him were states’ rights and property rights. He noted that the northern states had pointed the way, and naively assumed that southern states would shortly follow.

-- "Historical Contexts of The Last of the Mohicans: The French and Indian War, and Mid-1820s America", Allan M. Axelrad

Still, this is a literary achievement worth revisiting. I love the footnotes showing the historical research and knowledge poured into setting this during the French and Indian War, and in a region the author knew well. Next time, I will pick an edition with larger type!

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