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 uniqueness of customs and spiritual world 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.

Author of "The Last of the Mohicans" summary which we are describing, tells that in the wars that unfolded between the French and the British for the possession of the lands of America (1755-1763), the warring parties more than once used the civil strife of local Indian tribes for their own purposes. 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 get help. It takes her longer than other hunters to convince Uncas: 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, set off 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" tells the patient's father to stay in order to guard the exit from the cave, referring to the power 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. Youngest daughter stayed 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. Perhaps they have different colour skin, 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.

The Last of the Mohicans, or A Narrative of 1757 is the second novel in James Fenimore Cooper's Leather Stocking pentalogy. In it, the hunter Nathaniel Bumpo, nicknamed Hawkeye, will go along with his friends from the Mohican tribe Chingachgook and Uncas on a dangerous hike through the northern forests. They will be blocked by natural elements, wild animals and ruthless enemies. However, the heroes will not be afraid of obstacles for the sake of a noble goal - the salvation of the beautiful daughters of Colonel Munro.

The Last of the Mohicans was published in 1926, becoming the second in terms of writing and internal chronology of the cycle. The plot is preceded by the events of the novel "St. John's wort, or the First Warpath". True, the first part of the pentalogy was created much later - in 1841.

"The Last of the Mohicans" is one of Cooper's most popular works, describing the historical events of the territorial expansion of America and the tragic fate of the indigenous population of the continent.

Colorful pictures of the virgin northern nature, original romantic images of the main characters, acute problems, heroic pathos and a dynamic adventure story have repeatedly inspired talented fans of Cooper's work to artistic adaptations. The novel was filmed by directors in the USA, Canada, France and Germany. Michael Mann's film of the same name, filmed in 1992, was recognized as the most worthy film version. The project stars Daniel Day-Lewis (Nathaniel Bumpo/Hawkeye), Madeline Stowe (Cora Munro) and Russell Means (Chingachgook).

Synthesizing the American romantic tradition of the first decades of the twentieth century, Fenimore Cooper wrote a work unique in its kind. The prose writer became the founder of a new myth about the native American, created the archetypal image of the so-called "noble savage" and outlined the genre guidelines of the western.

1757. The height of the Franco-English confrontation. The coastal area of ​​the Hudson and neighboring lakes has become an arena for bloody battles. As usual, not only soldiers, but also civilians became their victims. Entire Indian tribes were wiped off the face of the earth, and those units that survived either hid in the dense forests or went over to the side of one of the colonialists.

Allied Indians posed a terrible danger to peaceful settlers. Deprived of home and families, pushed back from the graves of their fathers, these wild avengers dealt with the white strangers with all the cruelty that they were capable of. broken hearts. Soon, the inhabitants of the American frontier (the border between developed and undeveloped territories) flinched at every rustle coming from the forest. The image of the red man became their nightmare, a ghost in the flesh, their ruthless judge and executioner.

During this turbulent time, the daughters of Colonel Munro - Cora and Alice - decided to visit their parent in the besieged English Fort William Henry, which was located on Lake Lane George in the province of New York. To shorten the path, the girls, accompanied by Major Duncan Hayward and an absent-minded music teacher, separated from the military detachment and turned onto a secret forest path. It was volunteered to be shown by an Indian walker Magua, nicknamed the Sly Fox. Magua, from the allied Mohawk tribe, assured travelers that along the forest path they would reach the fort in a few hours, while along the main road they would have an exhausting journey, lasting a day.

Cora and Alice look suspiciously at the silent guide, who only throws jerky glances from under his brows and peers into the thick of the forest. Hayward also has doubts, but the appearance of a clumsy music teacher, who hurries to William Henry, defuses the situation. Under girlish laughter and songs, a small detachment turns onto a fatal forest path.

Meanwhile, on the banks of a fast-flowing forest stream, the white-skinned hunter Nathaniel Bumpo, nicknamed Hawkeye, was having a leisurely conversation with his friend, the Indian Chingachgook, the Great Serpent. The savage's body was covered black and white paint, which gave him a frightening resemblance to a skeleton. His clean-shaven head was adorned with a single ponytail with a large feather. Chingachguk told the hunter the history of his people from the bright times, when his forefathers lived in peace and prosperity, and until the dark hour, when they were driven out by pale-faced people. Now there is no trace of the former greatness of the Mohicans. They are forced to lurk in forest caves and wage a miserable struggle for survival.

Soon the young Indian Uncas, nicknamed Swift Deer, the son of Chingachgook, joins the friends. The Trinity organizes a hunt, but the planned meal is interrupted by the clatter of horse hooves. Bumpo does not recognize him among the forest sounds, but the wise Chingachgook immediately falls to the ground and reports that several horsemen are riding. These are white people.

By the river, in fact, a small company appears: a military, clumsy man on an old horse, two charming young ladies and an Indian. These are the daughters of Colonel Munro with their attendants. Travelers are quite worried - not long before sunset, and the end of the forest is not in sight. It seems that their guide has gone astray.

Hawkeye immediately questions Magua's honesty. At this time of the year, when the rivers and lakes are full of water, when the moss on every stone and tree announces the future location of the star, the Indian simply cannot get lost in the forest. Who is your guide? Hayward reports that Magua is mohoh. More precisely, the Huron adopted by the Mohoh tribe. "Huron? - exclaims the hunter and his red-skinned companions, - This is a treacherous, thieving tribe. The Huron will remain a Huron, no matter who takes him in... He will always be a coward and a vagabond... You just have to be surprised that he has not yet made you stumble upon a whole gang.

Hawkeye is about to shoot the deceitful Huron immediately, but Hayward stops him. He wants to personally capture the walker in a more humane way. His plan fails. The cunning Fox manages to hide in the thicket of the forest. Now the travelers need to leave the dangerous path as quickly as possible. The traitor, most likely, will bring on them a warlike gang of Iroquois, from whom there is no escape.

Hawkeye leads the young ladies and their escorts to a rocky island - one of the secret hideouts of the Mohicans. Here the company plans to stay for the night in order to leave for William Henry in the morning.

The beauty of the young blond Alice and the older dark-haired Cora does not go unnoticed. Most fascinated by the young Uncas. He literally does not leave Cora, giving the girl various signs attention.

However, exhausted travelers were not destined to rest in a stone shelter. Ambush! The Iroquois, led by Sly Fox, still managed to track down the fugitives. Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas are forced to race for help while the Munro daughters are captured.

Cora and Alice are now in the hands of the Sly Fox. It turns out that in this way the Indian is trying to settle personal scores with Colonel Munro. Many years ago, he ordered Magua to be whipped for drunkenness. He held a grudge and waited a long time for the right time to pay. Finally, the hour has come. He wants to marry the elder Cora, but receives a decisive refusal. Then the enraged Magua will burn his captives alive. When the bonfire has already been laid out, Hawkeye is in time with help. The Hurons are defeated, Magua is shot dead, the beautiful captives are released and go with their companions to the fort to their father.

At this time, the French occupy William Henry. The British, including Colonel Munro and his daughters, are forced to leave the fort. On the way, the wagon train overtakes a warlike tribe from Magua. It turns out that the Indian only pretended to be dead in a fight on a stone island. He kidnaps Cora and Alice again. The Sly Fox sends the first to the Delawares, and takes the second with him to the lands of the Hurons.

In love with Alice, Hayward rushes to save the honor of the captive, and Uncas rushes to rescue the adored Cora. Through a cunning plan involving Hawkeye, the Major steals Alice from the tribe. Swift Deer, unfortunately, fails to save Cora. The cunning Fox is once again one step ahead.

Uncas, by this point already the paramount chief of the Delawares, follows on the heels of the kidnapper. The Delaware, who buried their tomahawks years ago, are back on the warpath. AT decisive battle they smash the Hurons. Realizing that the outcome of the battle is a foregone conclusion, Magua takes out a dagger, intending to stab Cora. Uncas rushes to the defense of his beloved, but is a few moments late. The vixen's treacherous blade pierces Uncas and Cora. The villain does not triumph for long - he is immediately overtaken by a bullet from Hawkeye.

They bury young Koru and Uncas, the Swift Deer. Chingachgook is inconsolable. He was left alone, an orphan in this world, the last of the Mohicans. But no! The Great Serpent is not alone. He has a faithful comrade who is standing next to him at this bitter moment. Let his companion have a different skin color, a different homeland, culture, and lullabies were sung to him in a strange, incomprehensible language. But he will be nearby, no matter what happens, because he is also an orphan, lost in the border zone of the Old and New Worlds. And his name is Nathaniel Bumpo, and his nickname is Hawkeye.

People of the World: Nathaniel Bumpo, Chingachgook

The novel "The Last of the Mohicans" stands out among the romantic works Indian themed. Cooper, who grew up on the New York state frontier, was an eyewitness social phenomenon called "pioneer". That is why he was able to subtly feel the discord between the noble ideas of the discoverers and the harsh reality.

The heroes of his novel, in the best traditions of romanticism, are divided into positive and negative. However, this division is not based on race, the basis for differentiation is personal qualities and human actions. There are villains among the Indians as well as among the whites (on the one hand, the Hurons, the Sly Fox, on the other, the ruthless French and English colonialists).

Fundamentally important for the collapse of racial theory are the collective image of the brave Mohicans, Delawares and central characters Chingachgook and his son Uncas. The Indians in the image of Cooper not only are not inferior to civilized whites, but also surpass them in wisdom, dexterity, the ability to live in unity with nature and read its signs.

An example to follow

The author's ideal main character pentalogy Nathaniel Bumpo, who appears in the Mohicans under the name Hawkeye. This is a borderline image that has absorbed best features Indians and whites. Bampo is a harmonious combination of nature and civilization, the bearer of such rare qualities as simplicity, selflessness, justice, honesty, valor, and spiritual power.

Chingachgook and Bumpo make the perfect heroic couple. They learn from each other, argue, but know how to listen. And most importantly, they go beyond the boundaries of racial prejudice and become people of the world. It is them, and not those who live in cities and boast latest finds technology, should be considered representatives of a civilized democratic society.

The novel by James Fenimore Cooper "The Last of the Mohicans, or the Narrative of 1757": a summary

Last of the Mohicans

"Last of the Mohicans"(English) The Last of the Mohicans listen)) is a historical novel by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, first published in 1826. It is the second book in the Leatherstocking pentalogy (both by date of publication and by the chronology of the epic), in which Cooper tells about life on the American frontier and one of the first depicts the originality of the spiritual world and the customs of the American Indians. A Russian translation of the novel was made in 1833.

Plot

The novel is set in the British colony of New York in August 1757, at the height of the French and Indian War. Part of the novel focuses on the events after the attack on Fort William Henry, when, with the tacit consent of the French, their Indian allies massacred several hundred surrendered Anglo-American soldiers and settlers. The hunter and tracker Natty Bumpo, presented to the reader in the first (in the order of development of the action) novel St. John's Wort, together with his Mohican Indian friends - Chingachgook and his son Uncas - participate in the rescue of two sisters, daughters of a British commander. At the end of the book, Uncas dies in an unsuccessful attempt to save Cora, the eldest of the daughters, leaving his father Chingachgook the last of the Mohicans.

In popular culture

The novel has been filmed numerous times, including the most famous 1992 version directed by Michael Mann.

Allegorically, the title of the novel is used to describe the last representative of some dying social phenomenon or group, a supporter of some ideas that have outlived their time, etc.

Also, this work was presented in the animated series of the same name, comprising 26 episodes. (The Last of the Mohicans / The Last Of The Mohicans). Created in 2004 - 2007.

Notes

Categories:

• Literary works alphabetically
• Works by James Fenimore Cooper
• Novels of 1826
• French and Indian War
• Historical novels
• Idioms
• Adventure novels

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See what "Last of the Mohicans" is in other dictionaries:

From English: The Last of the Mohicans. Title of the novel (1826) American writer Jace Fenimore Cooper (1789 1851). Its protagonist is the last representative of an extinct North American Indian tribe. Allegorically: the last ... ... Dictionary winged words and expressions

Adj., number of synonyms: 4 hero (80) Mohican (2) last (52) ... Synonym dictionary

Last of the Mohicans- wing. sl. The last representative something of a social group, a generation, a dying social phenomenon. The source of this expression is the novel by Fenimore Cooper (1789 1851) "The Last of the Mohicans" (1826) (the Mohicans are an extinct tribe of North Indians ... ... Universal additional practical explanatory dictionary by I. Mostitsky

- (inosk.) the last of known kind people figures, heroes Cf. (This) was depicted in such an erratic Burmic style (style perlé) that only the Mohicans of the forties can write. Saltykov. Collection. The funeral. Wed Our time is not the time ... ... Michelson's Big Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary

Razg. The last or oldest representative of what l. group, generation, a dying social phenomenon. /i> Based on the title of a novel by J.F. Cooper; The Mohicans are an extinct tribe of North American Indians. BMS 1998, 382 ... Big dictionary of Russian sayings

last of the mohicans- see the last Mohican... Dictionary of many expressions

The last of the Mohicans (inosk.) The last of the known kind of people of figures, heroes. Wed (This) was depicted in such an erratic Burmic style (style perlé) that only the Mohicans of the forties can write. Saltykov. Collection. ... ... Michelson's Big Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

The Last of the Mohicans novel (1826) by James Fenimore Cooper A film adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans is a 1920 American film. The Last of the Mohicans (Der Letzte der Mohikaner) German film ... ... Wikipedia

The Last of the Mohicans Genre adventure film ... Wikipedia

The theme of the development of the continent in the novel by F. Cooper "The Last of the Mohicans"

Reflection of the problems of the frontier in the work

In The Last of the Mohicans, Cooper reproduces the events of the Anglo-French colonial war in the second half of the 1950s. XVIII century, i.e. refers to the more distant past of the country. Events unfold in the dense, almost impenetrable forests of America:

“A distinctive feature of the colonial wars in North America consisted in the fact that before converging in a bloody battle, both sides had to endure hardships and dangers of wandering in the wild. The possessions of the warring France and England were separated from each other broad band almost impenetrable forests.

Only the brave scouts Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas know the secret forest paths. They lead the British along them, having entered the service in their army.

The theme of the development of the continent is presented in the form of a conflict between civilization and nature. Namely, the clash of the “unnatural” alien civilization with the natural skills and customs of the red-skinned natives is clearly visible, and tragic fate becomes one of the leitmotifs of the story.

Cooper managed to reveal the topic of land development, using only reliable historical facts. To see how subtly and deeply Cooper covered this topic in his novel, let's turn to historical background.

The history of the development and conquest of North America proceeded as follows. Here, the indigenous people and newcomers from across the ocean from the very beginning did not find a common language, could not work out the principles of coexistence, did not recognize each other's rights. True, the tribes of New England, for example, greeted the first pilgrim colonists very hospitably and even helped them survive the famine. The response of the Christians was not long in coming. As soon as the English colonies got a little stronger, they began the unmotivated physical destruction of the "red-skinned pagans" and the seizure of their lands. Within a few decades of the start of the colonization of the east coast of North America, many tribes of New England and Virginia were simply exterminated. The colonies moved irresistibly westward, and their barbaric policy towards the native population remained unchanged.

The Indian policy of the colonialists is striking in its cruelty, cynicism and uncompromisingness. Unlike other continents, where white colonists more or less put up with the neighborhood of the local population, the English, and then the American settlers in the New World, with a truly maniacal persistence, sought to clear the occupied or acquired territories from the Indians. Whites absolutely could not stand the presence of redskins nearby. It was in North America that the phenomenon of the border (the famous "frontier") arose: on one side - whites, on the other - Indians.

Yes, indeed, Cooper devotes his novel to this problem. We observe on the pages of the novel with what cruelty European civilization asserted itself in new lands. Capturing the spaces on which they hunted for thousands of years, fished, engaged in agriculture, the original inhabitants of America - the Indians - the British and French colonialists mercilessly exterminated them. The natives fiercely resisted this invasion; but by inciting some Indian tribes against others, involving them in wars, soldering them, deceiving them, the Europeans broke the resistance of a courageous and proud people. For example, Magua from the Huron tribe complains about the colonialists:

“Is it the Fox’s fault that his head is not made of stone? Who gave him fire water? Who made him a rascal? Pale people"

Cooper shows the cruelty of the colonizers who exterminate the Indians, truthfully portrays the savagery and "bloodthirstiness" of individual Indian tribes. However, the process of colonization is reproduced and evaluated in this novel by Cooper, as if from the position of an English colonist who contributed to the creation of the United States. Cooper sympathizes with the British and opposes them to the French colonizers, condemning the unjustified cruelty of their policy of conquest. And it is precisely those Indian tribes that are on the side of the French against the British that are shown as inhumanly cruel (the Iroquois tribe).

Cooper is a supporter of the penetration of civilization not with the help of fire and senseless murders of innocent Indians, but in more humane ways.

The writing

If the indisputable merit of Irving and Hawthorne, as well as E. Poe, was the creation of the American novel, then James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) is rightfully considered the founder of the American novel. Along with V. Irving, Fenimore Cooper is a classic of romantic nativism: it was he who introduced into US literature such a purely national and multifaceted phenomenon as the frontier, although this does not exhaust America discovered by Cooper to the reader.

Cooper was the first in the United States to begin writing novels in the modern sense of the genre; he developed the ideological and aesthetic parameters of the American novel theoretically (in prefaces to works) and practically (in his work). He laid the foundations for a number of genre varieties of the novel, which were previously not at all familiar to Russian, and in some cases even to world artistic prose.

Cooper - the creator of the American historical novel: with his "Spy" (1821) began the development of the heroic national history. He was the initiator of the American nautical novel (The Pilot, 1823) and its specifically national variety, the whaling novel (The Sea Lions, 1849), subsequently brilliantly developed by G. Melville. Cooper also developed the principles of the American adventure and moral novels (Miles Wallingford, 1844), the social novel (Houses, 1838), the satirical novel (Monikins, 1835), the utopian novel (Crater Colony, 1848) and the so-called "Euro-American" novel ("Concepts of Americans", 1828), the conflict of which is built on the relationship between the cultures of the Old and New Worlds; he then became central in the work of G. James.

Finally, Cooper is the discoverer of such an inexhaustible field of Russian fiction as the frontier novel (or "border novel") - genre variety, to which, first of all, his pentalogy about the Leather Stocking belongs. It should be noted, however, that Cooper's pentalogy is a kind of synthetic narrative, for it also incorporates the features of historical, social, moralistic and adventure novels and epic novels, which fully corresponds to the real significance of the frontier in national history and life. 19th century.

James Cooper was born into a prominent family politician, Congressman and large landowner Judge William Cooper, a glorious descendant of quiet English Quakers and harsh Swedes. (Fenimore - maiden name the writer's mother, which he added to his own in 1826, thus designating new stage his literary career). A year after he was born, the family moved from New Jersey to New York State to the uninhabited shores of Lake Otsego, where Judge Cooper founded the village of Cooperstown. Here, on the border between civilization and wild undeveloped lands, the future novelist spent his childhood and early adolescence.

He was educated at home, studying with an English teacher hired for him, and at the age of thirteen he entered Yale, from where, despite brilliant academic success, he was expelled two years later for "provocative behavior and a penchant for dangerous jokes." Young Cooper could, for example, bring a donkey into the audience and seat him in the professor's chair. Let us note that these pranks fully corresponded to the mores prevailing on the frontier, and to the very spirit of the frontier folklore, but, of course, went against the ideas accepted in the academic environment. The measure of influence chosen by the strict father turned out to be pedagogically promising: he immediately gave his fifteen-year-old varmint son as a sailor on a merchant ship.

After two years of regular service, James Cooper entered the navy as a midshipman and sailed the seas and oceans for another three years. He retired in 1811, immediately after his marriage, at the request of his young wife, Susan Augusta, née de Lancy, from a good New York family. Shortly thereafter, his father died of a stroke during a political debate, leaving his son a decent inheritance, and Cooper lived the quiet life of a country gentleman squire.

He became a writer, as the family legend says, quite by accident - unexpectedly for his family and for himself. Cooper's daughter Susan recalled: "My mother was unwell; she lay on the couch, and he read aloud to her fresh English novel. Apparently, the thing was worthless, because after the first chapters he threw it away and exclaimed: "Yes, I myself would write you a book better than this one!" The mother laughed - the idea seemed so absurd to her. He, who could not even write letters, would suddenly start writing a book! Father insisted that he could, and indeed, he immediately sketched the first pages of a story that did not yet have a name; The action, by the way, took place in England.

Cooper's first work - an imitative novel of manners "Precaution" was published in 1820. Immediately after this, the writer, in his words, "tried to create a work that would be purely American, and the theme of which would be love for the motherland." So appeared historical novel"The Spy" (1821), which brought the author the widest fame in the USA and Europe, laid the foundation for the development of the American novel and, along with W. Irving's "Book of Sketches", original national literature in general.

How was the American novel created, what was the "secret" of Cooper's success, what were the features of the author's storytelling technique? Cooper based his work on main principle English social novel, which came into special fashion in the first decades of the 19th century (Jane Austen, Mary Edgeworth): stormy action, free art creating characters, subordinating the plot to the approval of the social idea. The originality of Cooper's works, created on this basis, was, first of all, in the theme, which he already found in his first not imitative, but "purely American novel."

This topic is America, completely unknown to the Europeans at that time and always attractive to the patriotically minded domestic reader. Already in The Spy, one of the two main directions in which Cooper further developed this topic was outlined: national history(mainly the War of Independence) and the nature of the United States (first of all, the frontier and the sea, familiar to him from his youth; 11 of 33 Cooper novels are devoted to navigation). As for the drama of the plot and the brightness of the characters, national history and reality provided for this no less rich and more recent material than the life of the Old World.

Absolutely innovative and unlike the manner of English novelists was the style of Cooper's nativist narrative: the plot, figurative system, landscapes, the very way of presentation, interacting, created a unique quality of emotional Cooper's prose. For Cooper literary work was a way of expressing what he thought about America. At the beginning of it creative way, driven by patriotic pride in the young fatherland and looking to the future with optimism, he sought to correct certain shortcomings of national life. The "touchstone" of democratic convictions for Cooper, as well as for Irving, was a long stay in Europe: a New York writer at the zenith of world fame, he was appointed American consul in Lyon. Fenimore Cooper, who took advantage of this appointment to improve his health and introduce his daughters to Italian and French culture, stayed abroad longer than the prescribed period.

After a seven-year absence, he, who had left the USA of John Quincy Adams, returned in 1833, like Irving, to Andrew Jackson's America. Shocked by the dramatic changes in the life of his country, he, unlike Irving, became an implacable critic of the Jacksonian vulgarization of the broad democracy of the frontier. The works written by Fenimore Cooper in the 1830s won him the fame of the first "anti-American", which accompanied him until the end of his life and caused many years of persecution by the American press. "I broke with my country," Cooper said.

Writer died in Cooperstown, in full bloom creative forces, although his unpopularity as an "anti-American" overshadowed the brilliant glory of the singer native land.

The most famous and beloved in the United States and abroad, Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Last of the Mohicans" (1826) is included in the so-called Pentalogy of the Leather Stocking - a cycle of five novels created in different time. These are Pioneers (1823), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Prairie (1827), Pathfinder (1840) and St. John's Wort (1841). All of them are united by the image of the central character - the pioneer-pioneer Nathaniel (Natty) Bumpo, who acts under the nicknames of Deerslayer, Pathfinder, Hawkeye, Long Carabiner, Leather Stocking and shown in different years of his life. He is a youth of twenty in Deerslayer (set in 1740), a mature man in The Last of the Mohicans and The Pathfinder (1750s), old man in "Pioneers" late XVIII century) and a deep old man in "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 American history, presented as artistic history 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, helps out of trouble, saves from death, and then, when his mission is over, he goes alone into the forests, and when there are no forests left, into 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 rustling in the forest is so ominous that the reader knows no rest. The mature Cooper is an excellent storyteller, and the very fact that he talks in such an entertaining way about subjects that are very serious - explores 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 faithful friends - the Mohican Indians Chingachgook and his son Uncas - rescue the captives. The vicissitudes of the novel: persecution, traps and fierce 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 artistic study of the character of the courageous pioneer pioneer "The Last of the Mohicans" - 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 constant 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 nature, 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.

Full actor Fenimore Cooper speaks of 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 hand, 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 touching scene. 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. helping or opposing the 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 the culture of the United States, developing the genre parameters of the western.

So, life on the frontier and the image of the "red-skin" so impressively and artistically expressed by Cooper appear less aesthetically perfect, but more reliable and by no means conditional, in the prose of native Americans.

In the 19th century, largely based on the traditions of the "white" literature of the United States, a fictional line was formed in it. The autobiography remains the leading genre here for a long time: "The Son of the Forest" (1829) by W. Ains, from the Picot tribe, "Autobiography" (1833) of the Black Hawk, the former leader of the Sauk tribe, and others. The authors poetically describe the life of their tribe and the joys of a free Indian adolescence, stoically and restrainedly tell about the grievances inflicted on their people by whites: about the injustice of state policy, about the hardships of modern civilization, about the narrow-minded prejudice of white Americans, who see them only as "savages" and "subhumans". Among these autobiographies there are also very interesting and in their own way outstanding works.

The development of the actual artistic prose (as well as poetry and drama) of Native Americans was hampered by internal political conflicts of the 19th century: the Seminole War of 1835-1842, civil war, numerous and contradictory government laws governing the life of the Indians, who were either evicted and resettled, then driven to reservations, then these reservations were canceled.

So, the first "Indian" novel - "Poor Sarah, or Indian Woman" by Elias Bodino, from the Cherokee tribe, came out in 1833, the next one - only in 1854. He immediately brought the author - John Rollin Ridge (from Cherokee) the widest fame and to some extent influenced the development of American literature in general. The novel was called "The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta, the famous California bandit" and was a fictional biography of a certain noble robber- an avenger for the abuse of his family and his people. The reason for the creation of the book was a series of raids not so long ago to capture Chicano bandits, who at the beginning of the century terrorized the entire district in a not noble way and who were simply called "joaquins" here.

Ridge made a name out of this nickname, provided the hero with a surname and portrayed the local Robin Hood, irresistible and fearless, always ready to help the poor, gallant with ladies and faithful to his beloved. In this capacity, Joaquin Murieta migrated to numerous stories, dramatizations, and then films that made him an incredibly popular figure in the local folklore of California and Mexico. The style and figurative system of Ridge's book is a mixture of the traditions of the English and American Gothic novel and the American "frontier novel" (or "frontier novel"); central image very reminiscent of the heroes of Byron's "oriental poems". In general, "The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta" is one of the first examples of the popular western genre, which later - at the turn of the century, flooded the American book market and then cinema.

The connection with popular culture, however, does not exhaust the influence this novel to domestic fiction. More important is his contribution to the development of "regional narrative" in US literature. Based on recent events in local history, vividly recreating local customs and life, full of beautiful California landscapes, he anticipated and pushed the development of the Western "school of local color." In the following decades, she made herself known by the work of such writers as Francis Bret Harte, Joaquin Miller (who took this literary pseudonym in honor of the hero of the novel Ridge), Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain.