The Last Of The Mohicans Analysis

James Fenimore Cooper’s, The Last of the Mohicans, is undoubtedly very violent and dark in its nature but underneath all the action lies a deeper meaning. Both articles, “Narrative Structure and Historical process in the Last of the Mohicans,” and, “The Last of the Mohicans and the Sounds of Discord,” are helpful in addressing the gothic stylistic ties within the novel, but differ on their main thesis. The article regarding narrative and historical process focuses more on the initial formation of the Americans, while the article on the sounds of discord perceives the novel to be much more conflicting and inconsistent in its message. Despite the copious amount of violence it contains, The Last of the Mohicans is not a pure action novel, but …show more content…
Instead of being one storyline of, “particular events…[it is] the illustration of universal principles” (Butler 118). The author recognizes that on the micro level, the novel appears to be nothing more than action scene after action scene strung together by violence. Rather than focusing on the minutia of the scenes, the article takes a broader more introspective view on what the events really signify. It sees the novel, as relaying the progression of, “the decline of both Indian and European on the continent, and the consequent creation and rise of the American” (Butler 1118). Additionally, the book might seem chaotic on the surface, yet Butler argues that the novel action contains a, “hidden order,” and is planned carefully since all of the, “characters are fairly evenly divided into savage and civilized, red and white, moral and immoral,” proving that all the seemingly gratuitous battle scenes in some ways serve to contrast opposing characters (Butler 124). Overall, the article assigns a large amount of trust to the idea of cyclical power. In its perspective, “a beginning predicts an end,” and because of this there is also, “a promise of The Last of the Americans” …show more content…
Butler brings to light the natural progression of power from group to group, while keeping in mind that it stays nowhere forever. On the other hand, Philbrick is resistant to making an outright position on the novel’s implications, but in dwelling on the novel’s ambiguity also makes comment to historical atmosphere of the period, one of uncertainty and turbulence. In spite of all its violence, The Last of the Mohicans is a novel that not only illustrates the aura of the time it takes place, but also commentates on the inevitable movement of