Last of The Mohicans vs. Twain

A detailed Summary of Last of The Mohicans vs. Twain

According to Mark Twain, Fenimore Cooper broke eighteen of the nineteen rules governing literary art in the domain of romantic fiction when he wrote Deerslayer. This accusation does not seem to apply to The Last of the Mohicans. The scene describing Duncan, David, Alice, and Cora's evening spent with Hawk-eye and the Mohicans in the deserted block-house is a prime example which proves Twain wrong.

Mark Twain claims that the episodes of Cooper's tale do not help develop the story. On the contrary, this scene is rather important to the story. The night at the blockhouse marks the end of the first day the Europeans spend with their native saviors. Within this sequence we also learn the meaning of the title. Hawk-eye speaks of his companion, Chingachgook, " '...and you see before you, all that are left of his race.' (Cooper 144)", hence The Last of the Mohicans.

Rule number seven that Cooper broke, according to Twain, says

"... when a personage talks like and illustrated, gilt edged, tree-calf, hand tooled, seven dollar Friendship's Offering in the beginning of a paragraph, he shall not talk like a negro minstrel in the end of it. (Twain 633)."

However the dialogue in The Last of the Mohicans s

Rule number ten, according to Twain, states,

Mark Twain's critique of Fenimore Cooper seems bitter in nature. Most of Twain's accusations do not apply to The Last of the Mohicans. In fact some of them are hard to even consider. It seems an author of Mark Twain's stature could be more creative and factual in criticizing the work of a fellow writer. Though The Last of the Mohicans is by no means perfect, Twain could have found much better and more mature judgments to make. It is also unclear as to the nature of these "rules" that Twain is stating, they seem to have no factual basis much like Twain's entire critique. Mark Twain should have rather used constructive criticism to analyze the mistake made by Cooper in The Last of the Mohicans and presented them in a more professional manner.

Mark Twain believed that the characters, both dead and alive, did not exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there. The Last of the Mohicans was based around a small group of main characters and very rarely was anyone else of name involved. Duncan, David, and the sisters were trying to reach the fort and the tale could not be told without their presence. Because Hawk-eye, Uncas, and Chingachgook serve the purpose of escorting the Europeans to the fort. Magua the villainous 'vartlet' is the seemingly immortal enemy (until the end). Without Magua the story wou

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Approximate Word count = 911
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies

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