The Last of the Mohicans

A detailed Summary of The Last of the Mohicans

Courage is the way to overcome fear. When one is courageous, they can overcome many problems that come to them. Courage can be expressed in three different ways, inner, physical, and moral. The characters in James Fenimore Cooper's, The Last of the Mohicans, exhibit courage in many different circumstances. The novel follows three men traveling through the woods and living off of the land. Two of them are Mohican Indians, Chingachgook and his son Uncas, and the other is a white man raised by the Indians, Hawkeye. One day these men encounter a caravan of English soilders led by Major Duncan Hayward. This caravan is in charge of escorting Colonel Munro's two daughters, Alice and Cora, to Fort William Henry where their father is. When the three Mohicans encounter the group they decide that they will help lead the English to the Fort, but what they do not know is that the evil Magua is out to get them, which leads to a seemingly endless chase full of excitement and adventure. Through this long game of cat and mouse many of these characters exhibit a great deal of courage. Some of these characters like, Alice, Magua and Uncas, exhibit only one or two of the aspects of courage. But Hawkeye exhibits all three aspects. There a

All though Magua is a evil character, he still shows courage in some ways. He shows both moral and physical courage. Magua has a strong moral courage, even after he is struck by Hawkeye, he does not stop trying, "turning a relentless look on his enemy...he shook a hand in grim defiance" (Cooper 360). He knows that he must not give up and stop trying. His morals are not good, but he believes strongly in them, "while he was making this ostensible sacrafice to general considerations...Magua never lost sight of his individual motives" (Cooper 298). He does not let things stand in his way or change his mind, he will hold close to his morals not matter what. It is this that keeps him from being defeated, "in this happy state of things...it is not surprising that the management of Mauga prevailed" (Cooper 299). Because he is so strong in his morals he will not fail because he is so confident in himself. Magua is also physically courageous, he is agile and strong. This makes it hard for him to be captured, "he leaped a wide fissure...and ascended the rocks at a point where the arm of David could not reach him" (Cooper 360). Magua is extreamly physically courageous and will not stop fighting until he is defeated, but unfortunately for him, he is overcome by Hawkeye and his courageousness finds a quick ending to it.

(Cooper 359). Uncas does display a great deal of courage, but he lacks courage in the moral aspect. Uncas is a strong and courageous man, and he is determined that he will never fail in what he tries to do.

re times in the novel that it seems like there is no hope, but with the courage inside of them, these characters do not give up.

Uncas shows a great deal of courage in the novel as well. Like Hawkeye, he was brought up to be a brave and courageous man over all. Uncas displays a great deal of inner courage. It seems that even in the most distracting situations, Uncas can keep calm, "a shout arouse from the Hurons...whos seized the opportunity to fire another volley...Uncas desribed an arc in the water...and as the canoe passed swiftly on" (Cooper 217). Even though bullets are flying over his head, Uncas does not loose his concentration and kee

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Approximate Word count = 1475
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels