Bumppo—a strong, independent, heroic man who fights for justice and the right to live life by his own principles—becomes Cooper's constant hero.
Cooper modeled many of his novels after those of Sir Walter Scott, a famous British historical novelist. As a result, he was called the American Scott, a designation he did not enjoy. Cooper's purpose in The Last of the Mohicans was, in part, to explore a uniquely American type of warfare. In his estimation, when the imperial struggles of France and England met on American territory, they created "savage warfare." Throughout the book, Cooper compares the behavior and tactics of European Americans and Native Americans. As H. Daniel Peck points out in his introduction to New Essays on The Last of the Mohicans, Cooper was the first novelist who brought American history and settings into fiction.
Plot Summary
Introduction
The Last of the Mohicans opens with Cooper's observations and theories on Native North American tribes. His descriptions include an analysis of the Indian character, appearance, origin, languages, and tribal names. According to Cooper, the Mohican tribe is the oldest on the eastern territory of the North American continent but it is disappearing. The tribes unfriendly to the Mohicans are those of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, Confederacy.
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