The Last of the Mohicans

 I just finished reading through The Last of the Mohicans this week, and I really enjoyed it! The Last of the Mohicans was written in 1825 by James Fenimore Cooper, and is a story about adventure, danger, and love during the French and Indian War, and set in 1757 North America.

        Summary

        The story begins as two young women, daughters of a British general, begin to travel down south from the Great Lakes. They are accompanied by Duncan Heyward, a soldier, and friend of their family, and David Gamut, a minstrel. They are also accompanied by a Native American named Magua, who is from the Huron tribe.

        They are joined in their journey by a frontier scout named Hawkeye, and two Mohican Indians named Chingachgook and Uncas, a father and son, and Magua leaves their party for the time being. After being attacked by some Indians, the company finally comes to the fort where the girls’ father is. An overwhelmingly large number of French and Indian troops are preparing to besiege it, but their general sends in offers of a surrender that is too lenient to pass up so the fort gives in.

The company is attacked by the Hurons, led by Magua as they leave, and the two girls and the musician are carried off. The rest of the book is about the group that is following them to bring them back. I won’t spoil it for you, but the ending is incredibly touching.

There is sacrifice, true love, and duty all wrapped up into one book. The author does an incredible job of showing the realness of the situation and how people would react. I believe that a lot of people could learn from the selfless actions portrayed here.

Probably my favorite part of this book was how the author painted the characters like a landscape. It was easy to get to know the characters and identify with each of them in a different way. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good adventure story!