What did you like about The Last of the Mohicans? Fenimore Cooper and his heroes

Novella-tale of Hawthorne "Crest"

AT literary tales Hawthorne's fairy tale fiction is of great importance: it acts, firstly, as a means of creating a romantic ideal and, secondly, as a way of metaphorical criticism of the surrounding world.
The action of the most, perhaps, perfect short story-tale by N. Hawthorne "The Crest" (1852) takes place in the city of Salem and its environs. As for the duration of the action, it is distinguished by fabulous uncertainty (“a long time ago”), but it is obvious that this past times- XVII-XVIII century. The main characters are typical characters of national folklore: "one of the most dexterous witches in New England" mother Rigby and her "doll" (a human likeness created for the purpose of practical magic) Tufted. In this case, however, the creation of the Tuft pursues a goal, quite innocent - to frighten the crows in Mother Rigby's garden, and only then an insidious plan is born in the witch's head. She brings the scarecrow to life and sends it out into the wide world. Tuft with his pumpkin head, this caricature of modern man, should, according to the plan of Mother Rigby, prove that everything around is as empty-headed and false as her offspring.

Thanks to Mother Rigby's magic pipe, lit directly from hellfire, Tufted Hat not only lives and breathes, but also looks like a handsome and stately gentleman. But as soon as the light in the witch's pipe goes out, the true essence of the garden scarecrow comes out. However, no one but street dog and small child, does not notice fleeting changes in the appearance of the hero: everyone is blinded by his tinsel. In this way, Tufts easily conquers the whole city, and then the heart of the daughter of the church warden (Mother Rigby's longtime debtor), pretty Polly Gookin. As you can see, two traditional magical fairy tales are intertwined here: the creation of a human likeness by childless parents, which comes to life and replaces the child, and the hero's journey in search of a bride. Both plots, however, are reinterpreted in a romantic spirit and filled with elements of New England folklore.

Unexpected plot twist in the finale, so characteristic of Hawthorne the novelist, there is no folk fairy tale: the hero sees his reflection in the mirror, and his true patchwork squalor, devoid of any magic, is revealed to him. He understands that, having acquired a rich bride and a position in society, he has not yet become a man. This episode contains an important idea for romantic art: the real, visible world is not only something imperfect, but also unreal, true world- outside of it. In the work of Hawthorne, it is the mirrors that act as windows to this world.

Knowing the bitter truth romantic hero Tufted Hair, unlike the people around him, can no longer put up with surrogates and commits suicide: he breaks his pipe and falls to the floor with a pile of rags and sticks. The bitter irony of the author is heard in final words mother Rigby: "My poor, dear, pretty Tufted! There are thousands and thousands of all sorts of dudes and charlatans in the world, made up, like him, from the same pile of rubbish, from the same worn, outdated, good-for-nothing things, and all do they live happily ever after<...>. And why should my doll alone<...>perish?<...>He is too impressionable and feels everything too deeply. He seems to have a too tender heart to fight and win in this insensitive and heartless world."

As we can see, the rational prose of life, "insensitivity and heartlessness" turn out to be an absolute evil for the New England romantic writer. Witchcraft, so fiercely persecuted by his ancestors, on the contrary, is surrounded by a halo of poetry and romantic exclusivity. Under the pen of Hawthorne, even a fairy tale, a genre that seems to be absolutely far from psychologism, reveals the ability to master quite complex characters: the romantically uncompromising Tufted Cuff and the artistic nature of Mother Rigby, not alien to artistic vanity. It is their logic, and not the standard fairy tale plot, that ultimately obeys the plot. romantic fairy tale N. Hawthorne.
LECTURE 7
^ HISTORY AND MODERNITY OF AMERICA IN DIALOGUES OF CULTURES

James Fenimore Cooper. Biography and creativity

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, previously not at all familiar to the domestic, and in some cases, the world. fiction.

Cooper - the creator of the American historical novel: with his "Spy" (1821) began the development of the heroic national history. He is the initiator of the American nautical novel (The Pilot, 1823) and his specifically national variety- a whaling novel ("Sea Lions", 1849), subsequently brilliantly developed by G. Melville. Cooper, on the other hand, 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") - a genre variety, to which, first of all, his Pentalogy about the Leather Stocking belongs. It should, however, be noted 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 the family of a prominent politician, congressman and large landowner, Judge William Cooper, a glorious descendant of quiet English Quakers and stern 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. Soon after, his father died of a stroke during a political debate, leaving his son a decent inheritance, and Cooper healed. quiet life 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 was lying on the couch, and he read aloud to her a fresh English novel. Apparently, the thing was worthless, because after the first chapters he threw it away and exclaimed:" Yes, I myself would write to you a better book than this!" Mother laughed - this idea seemed so absurd to her. He, who could not even write letters, would suddenly sit down to write a book! Father insisted that he could, and indeed, he immediately sketched the first pages of a story that there was no 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"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", an original national literature generally.

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 the main principle of 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 Europeans at that time and always attractive to a patriotic 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 individual shortcomings 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 acquaint his daughters with Italian and French culture, stayed abroad longer than expected.

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 of his native land.
^ Cooper. Analysis of the novel "The Last of the Mohicans"

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 in a way central hero- pioneer pioneer Nathaniel (Natty) Bumpo, who goes by the nicknames Deerslayer, Pathfinder, Hawkeye, Long Carbine, Leatherstocking and is featured in different years 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 18th 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 downs. moral loss. 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 "Pioneers" the narration 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 rustle 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 American Literature, but romantically rethought by the author of 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 brutal 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.

AT artistic research Cooper character 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. took shape and writing skills author: 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 permanent 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 the natural principle, 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 also 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 image of the Indians, their exotic way of life, their colorful rituals, incomprehensible and controversial 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 white man, initiated a new, albeit 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.

Thus, 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 arbitrary, in the prose of Native Americans.

Editing Jack Dennis , Harry Marker Cinematographer Robert H. Plank Writers Philip Dunn , James Fenimore Cooper , John L. Balderston , more Artists John Ducasse Schultz, Frank Smith

Do you know that

• It was originally planned to make the film in color, but the producer decided that it was too expensive, and the film was left in black and white.
• The original script has changed several times.
• Filming was carried out almost throughout the state of California (USA). Including in Big Bear Valley ( national park San Bernardino).

Plot

Beware, the text may contain spoilers!

Colonel Monroe, on the orders of the British king, fights in the open North America for British dominance on the Continent. Troops are deployed to defend Fort Henry. During the transfer of the daughters of the colonel, an Indian Magua, nicknamed the "Sly Fox", tries to kidnap. He wants revenge on Monroe for a long-standing insult.

The girls are saved from an unenviable fate by the white hunter Hawkeye (Scott) with his friends Uncas and Chingachgook. During the campaign, Uncas falls in love with eldest daughter Colonel Monroe - Cora, at this time a spark also runs between Hawkeye and the younger Alice.

The rescued girls return to their father, but the sisters do not remain safe for long. Soon the port is attacked by the French, who have entered into an alliance with the Magua tribe. Colonel Monroe is seriously injured, and the "Sly Fox" takes both girls. At the tribal council, he announces that he takes Cora as his wife, and Alice will be burned alive at the stake.

Hawkeye goes in pursuit. At this time, the older sister, not wanting to become Magua's wife, throws herself off a cliff and dies. A severely wounded Uncas finds her corpse in the river and carries it on himself until he also dies from his wounds. Finally, Chingachgook catches up with the kidnapper and kills him.

At this time, Alice in the enemy tribe is preparing to be burned at the stake. Hawkeye offers the Indians to burn him instead of his beloved. The British military comes to the aid of a couple in love, and the heroes safely go home.

"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 is one of the first to depict the originality spiritual world and 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 is devoted to the events after the attack on Fort William Henry, when tacit consent the French, their Indian allies massacred several hundred surrendered English 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. 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 a group, a supporter of any ideas that have outlived their time, etc.

Write a review on the article "The Last of the Mohicans"

Notes

The Epic of the Leather Stocking: Marine novels: Miscellaneous: Heroes:

An excerpt characterizing the Last of the Mohicans

- Denisov, leave him; I know who took it,” said Rostov, going up to the door and not raising his eyes.
Denisov stopped, thought, and, apparently understanding what Rostov was hinting at, grabbed his hand.
“Sigh!” he shouted so that the veins, like ropes, puffed out on his neck and forehead. “I’m telling you, you’re crazy, I won’t allow it. The wallet is here; I will loosen my skin from this meg'zavetz, and it will be here.
“I know who took it,” Rostov repeated in a trembling voice and went to the door.
“But I’m telling you, don’t you dare do this,” Denisov shouted, rushing to the cadet to restrain him.
But Rostov tore his hand away and with such malice, as if Denisov was his greatest enemy, directly and firmly fixed his eyes on him.
– Do you understand what you are saying? he said in a trembling voice, “there was no one else in the room except me. So, if not, then...
He could not finish and ran out of the room.
- Oh, why not with you and with everyone - there were last words that Rostov heard.
Rostov came to Telyanin's apartment.
“The master is not at home, they have gone to the headquarters,” Telyanin’s orderly told him. Or what happened? added the batman, surprised at the junker's upset face.
- There is nothing.
“We missed a little,” said the batman.
The headquarters was located three miles from Salzenek. Rostov, without going home, took a horse and rode to headquarters. In the village occupied by the headquarters, there was a tavern frequented by officers. Rostov arrived at the tavern; at the porch he saw Telyanin's horse.
In the second room of the tavern the lieutenant was sitting at a dish of sausages and a bottle of wine.
“Ah, and you stopped by, young man,” he said, smiling and raising his eyebrows high.
- Yes, - said Rostov, as if it was worth pronouncing this word great work and sat down at the next table.
Both were silent; two Germans and one Russian officer were sitting in the room. Everyone was silent, and the sounds of knives on plates and the lieutenant's champing could be heard. When Telyanin had finished breakfast, he took a double purse out of his pocket, spread the rings with his little white fingers bent upwards, took out a gold one, and, raising his eyebrows, gave the money to the servant.
“Please hurry,” he said.
Gold was new. Rostov got up and went over to Telyanin.
“Let me see the purse,” he said in a low, barely audible voice.
With shifty eyes, but still raised eyebrows, Telyanin handed over the purse.
"Yes, a pretty purse... Yes... yes..." he said, and suddenly turned pale. “Look, young man,” he added.
Rostov took the wallet in his hands and looked at it, and at the money that was in it, and at Telyanin. The lieutenant looked around, as was his habit, and seemed to suddenly become very cheerful.
“If we’re in Vienna, I’ll leave everything there, and now there’s nowhere to go in these crappy little towns,” he said. - Come on, young man, I'll go.
Rostov was silent.
- What about you? have breakfast too? They are decently fed,” continued Telyanin. - Come on.

A novel not to be missed! He became a favorite for generations. Young people were equal to the heroes of this work, people tried to do this in more adulthood. This is an adventure story with a certain spirit of adventurism. But there is also a tragedy in it, which cannot be read about without tears in the eyes. The death of Uncas reflects the dramatic fate of the indigenous population of America - the brave Indians, who were taken not only shelter, but also life.

The novel "The Last of the Mohicans", a summary of which is familiar to everyone from many films and cartoons, is the most popular creation Written by the author in 1826, it is included in a cycle of five works with common hero- Natty Bumpo or Leather Stocking. The whole cycle describes the character's life from early youth to old age. And before his eyes New World turns from an almost deserted (with the exception of the red-skinned tribes) corner of the earth into a lively place. However, this process was not entirely positive: many good people, dying during the battle.

The end of wild, practically undeveloped America and describes the "Last of the Mohicans". The content of the novel is a cruel deforestation of virgin forests, violence against the rightful owners of the land - people who, ironically, were his compatriots. And worst of all, it was he, Natty, who helped them settle down and gain a foothold here.

"The Last of the Mohicans". Summary novel

To tell the story briefly, it describes General Munro, who came to the frontier with two beautiful daughters. However, at that time there is a war between the colonialists, into which they drew the natives. It so happened that Cora and Alice are kidnapped by the Hurons, allies of the French, and Hawkeye (that is, Natty Bumpo), together with friends, are trying to free them. The already familiar Indians Chingachgook and his son Uncas help the hero, last representatives the Mohican tribe that survived.

The novel "The Last of the Mohicans", the summary of which cannot convey the whole exciting atmosphere, is filled with events. Violent fights, traps, persecution help to reveal the character of the heroes, show their positive and negative traits. All the action takes place in the bosom of amazing nature, which can act as an ally positive characters. The customs of a civilization that is doomed to destruction are also very vividly described. Therefore, it is better to read the novel "The Last of the Mohicans" in full. The summary will not be able to reflect the depth of feelings that cover Chingachgook and Natty when they see the death of Uncas. The young man, with all his courage and enthusiasm, protects his beloved at the cost of own life. However, this did not save Cora either - the enraged Magua managed to plunge his dagger into the girl's chest. The work ends with a touching funeral scene, from which the heart shrinks from pain.

What is a novel for contemporaries? An ode to courage, bravery, self-sacrifice. And he also became the beginning of a new genre in the literature and art of America - the western. Therefore, we can safely say that it was Cooper who laid the foundation for the further development of the culture of the American people. "The Last of the Mohicans" is undoubtedly a work that deserves your attention.

Ticket 26.

Heroes, conflict and plot in "The Last of the Mohicans" by J. Cooper or Heroes, plot, images in "The Song of Hiawatha" by G. Longfellow.

J. Cooper "The Last of the Mohicans" 1826

Plot:

The action takes place in North America in 1757. Information has been received that an enemy army is marching towards Fort William Henry. Reinforcements are moving into this fort. Major Hayward Duncan is given the task of delivering his daughters to Fort Commander William Henry. He decides not to take the main road, but a shorter one. An Indian walker is taken to accompany them.

On the way they were joined by David Gamut. Soon they got lost and went to the lake. On the shore they were met by two Indians (Uncas and Chingachgook) and a white hunter (Hawkeye). After talking to them, he finds out that the Indian escorting them is leading them into a trap. They decide to catch the Indian, but the Indian slips away into the woods. Afterwards, they take refuge in a cave for the night, in order to slip past the ambush by morning. But in the morning they are attacked by the Hurons, and after a brief skirmish, the Mohicans and the scout sail away down the river to call for reinforcements at Fort William Henry. The rest are hiding in a cave. But soon they are found and taken to the Huron camp. Along the way, they stop on a mountain, where they are overtaken by the Mohicans and a scout. It turned out that they did not go to the fort, but chased the captives and their captors.

Among the abductors was an Indian who had accompanied them before. It was Magua, but he slipped away again. They then proceeded to Fort William Henry. The fort was surrounded by significant enemy forces. There were a lot of Mings in the forests. Travelers broke through the encirclement to the fort and entered it.

A few days later, a temporary truce was declared. Negotiations were held, in which the commander-in-chief of the French army gave the British an intercepted letter stating that there would be no reinforcements, and the besieged decided to surrender. On the morning of the next day, the besieged moved out of the fort on their way. But in the gorge they were attacked by the Mings and swept away the English army. Alice grabbed Magua and ran from the battlefield, knowing that Cora would run after him. David ran after Kora, singing a song to calm the attackers. The Hurons thought he was crazy and therefore did not touch him. Thus, it also served as a shield for Cora. They mounted their horses and rode away. A few days later, Uncas, Chingachgook, a scout, Hayward and Munro arrived at the battlefield. They were looking for the girls' bodies. Then they saw their footprints and decided to start searching the next day.

The travelers decided that Duncan would infiltrate the Ming camp under the guise of a messenger from the white chief of Canada and try to kidnap Alice. Duncan came to the Huron camp and pretended to be a healer. But during the conversation, a captured warrior was brought in. It was Uncas. After the test that Uncas passed in order not to be killed, he was led to a hut where Magua went. He recognized Uncas and decided that he would be executed at dawn. Meanwhile, one of the leaders of the Hurons took Hayward to the cave where his sick daughter lay. On the way, one of the bears tamed by the Hurons followed them. They entered the cave, the chief showed his daughter and left. The bear approached Hayward, his head fell to one side and it turned out that it was not a bear, but Hawkeye in a bearskin.

In the cave they found Alice. But suddenly Magua appeared. He propped up the door from which he emerged from with a log, but then a scout in a bear's skin grabbed him, and they tied him up. Hayward carried Alice to the Delaware camp, while Hawkeye went to rescue Uncas. After that, they also went to this camp. They were held captive in the Delaware camp. Soon the deception was exposed. Magua took twenty warriors and went to the camp of the Delawares. From there he took Cora and went back.

In the camp of the Delawares, it turned out that Uncas was the leader of the Delawares. The captives were released, and they went with the Delaware army to the camp of the Mings. Twenty men, led by Hawkeye, went to the rear of the Huron army. But they were spotted, and an unequal battle began. Soon the main forces arrived in time, and in a heavy battle the Delawares won. Only Magua and two of his warriors remained. They began to run away. Uncas, Hayward, and the scout ran after them. They went through the cave and out the other side. In the cave, Magua took Cora and they ran on. But after leaving the cave, she refused to go, and one ming killed her. At the same time, Uncas jumped from above and killed the Ming. At that moment, Magua plunged the knife into Uncas's chest three times. Magua jumped onto another rock, could not resist, slipped and hung above the ground. The scout shot him with a gun.

Uncas and Cora were buried, and Hayward took Alice back to her homeland. This is where the piece ends.

Heroes:

Uncas, aka Swift Deer.

Chingachgook, aka the Great Serpent.

Scout Natty Bumpo aka Hawkeye

Eye and Long Carbine.

Major Hayward Duncan, a.k.a. Generous Hand.

Girls Cora and Alice.

Their father is Colonel Munro.

Magua, aka Sly Fox.

Psalmist David Gamut.

Uncas and Chingachgook are Mohicans. These are strong strong Indians, who see well in the dark, are able to find any traces, orient themselves well in the forests and hear any, even the quietest sound.

The main character of the novel is the hunter and tracker Natty Bumpo. Severe and fair, brave and noble, Bumpo is one of Cooper's most beloved heroes.

Magua is an evil, treacherous, cunning Indian, a leader from the Huron (Ming) tribe. He, like Uncas, loves the girl Cora and is constantly trying to kidnap her.

Major Hayward Duncan is a brave, brave Englishman who escorts the girls Cora and Alice to Fort William Henry. He was in love with Alice.

Cora is a brave, beautiful, noble girl, the daughter of Munro and a black woman from the West Indian Islands.

Alice - kind, beautiful, a tender girl, sister of Cora, daughter of Munro and Alice Graham.

Their father, Colonel Munro, is an elderly man who loves his daughters very much and is the commander-in-chief of Fort William Henry.

The psalmist David Gamut is a teacher of singing, who reveres songs sacredly; he always carried with him a book of holy songs.

Conflict:

The conflict between civilization and nature is transformed into a clash between the “unnatural” alien civilization and the natural skills and customs of the red-skinned natives, and the tragic fate of the Indians itself becomes one of the leitmotifs of the story.

"Song of Hiawatha" G. Longfellow

Plot : The story was based on the folklore of the American Indians. In the introduction, the author recalls the musician Navadaga, who once in ancient times sang a song about Hiawatha: "On his wondrous birth, / On his great life: / How he fasted and prayed, / How Hiawatha labored, / So that his people were happy, / So that he went to goodness and truth." The supreme deity of the Indians, Gitch Manito - the Lord of Life, - "who created all nations", traced the riverbeds along the valleys with his finger, molded a pipe from clay and lit it. Seeing the smoke of the Pipe of Peace rising to the sky, the leaders of all the tribes gathered: "The Choctos and Comanches walked, / The Shoshones and Omogs walked, / The Hurons and Mandens walked, / The Delawares and Mogoks, / The Blackfoots and Pones, / The Ojibways and Dakotas." Gitch Manito calls on the warring tribes to reconcile and live "like brothers", and predicts the appearance of a prophet who will show them the way to salvation. Obeying the Lord of Life, the Indians plunge into the waters of the river, wash off the war paints, light their pipes and set off on their return journey. Having defeated the huge bear Mishe-Mokva, Medzhekivis becomes the Lord of the Western Wind, while he gives the other winds to his children: the East - to Vebon, the South - to Shavondazi, the North - to the evil Kabibonokka. "In the immemorial years, / In the immemorial time" right from the moon, the beautiful Nokomis, the daughter of the night luminaries, fell on the flowering valley. There, in the valley, Nokomis gave birth to a daughter and named her Venona. When her daughter grew up, Nokomis warned her more than once against the spells of Majekivis, but Venona did not listen to her mother. "And the son of sorrow was born, / Of tender passion and sorrow, / Of wondrous mystery - Hiawatha." The insidious Majekivis soon left Venona, and she died of grief. Hiawatha was raised and raised by a grandmother. As an adult, Hiawatha puts on magical moccasins, takes magical gloves, goes in search of his father, eager to avenge his mother's death. Hiawatha starts a fight with Majekivis and forces him to retreat. After a three-day battle, the father asks Hiawatha to stop the fight. Majekivis is immortal and cannot be defeated. He calls on his son to return to his people, clear the rivers, make the land fruitful, kill the monsters, and promises to make him the lord of the Northwest wind after death. Hiawatha fasts in the wilderness for seven nights and days. He turns to Gitch Manito with prayers for the good and happiness of all tribes and peoples, and, as if in response, a young man Mondamin appears at his wigwam, with golden curls and in green-yellow robes. For three days Hiawatha struggles with the messenger of the Lord of Life. On the third day, he defeats Mondamin, buries him, and then does not stop visiting his grave. Green stalks grow one after another over the grave, this is another incarnation of Mondamin - corn, food sent to the people of Gitch Manito. Hiawatha builds a pirogue from birch bark, fastening it with the roots of temrak - larch, making a frame from cedar branches, decorating with hedgehog needles, staining with berry juice. Then, together with his friend Quasind, Hiawatha, a strongman, sailed along the Takwamino River and cleared it of snags and shoals. In the bay of Gitchi-Gyumi, Hiawatha casts his line three times to catch the Great Sturgeon - Mishe-Namu. Mishe-Nama swallows the pirogue along with Hiawatha, and he, being in the belly of the fish, squeezes the heart of the huge king of fish with all his might until he dies. Hiawatha then defeats the evil wizard Majisogwon, the Pearl Feather, who is guarded by terrible snakes. Hiawatha finds himself a wife, the beautiful Minnehaga of the Dakota tribe. At the wedding feast in honor of the bride and groom, the handsome and mocking Po-Pok-Kivis dances, the musician Chaibayabos sings a tender song, and old Yagu tells the amazing legend of the magician Osseo, who descended from the Evening Star. To protect the crops from spoilage, Hiawatha tells Minnehaga to go around the fields naked in the darkness of the night, and she obediently, "without embarrassment and without fear" obeys. Hiawatha, on the other hand, catches the Raven King, Kagagi, who dared to bring a flock of birds to the crops, and ties him on the roof of his wigwam as a warning. Hiawatha invents letters "so that future generations / It would be possible to distinguish them." Fearing the noble aspirations of Hiawatha, the evil spirits make an alliance against him and drown his closest friend, the musician Chaibayabos, in the waters of the Gitai-Gyumi. Hiawatha falls ill from grief and is healed with spells and magical dances. The daring handsome Po-Pok-Kivis teaches the men of his tribe to play dice and beats them ruthlessly. Then, getting excited and knowing, moreover, that Hiawatha is absent, Po-Pok-Kivis destroys his wigwam. Back at home, Hiawatha sets off in pursuit of Po-Pok-Kiwis. and he, running away, finds himself on a beaver dam and asks the beavers to turn him into one of them, only bigger and taller than all the others. The beavers agree and even choose him as their leader. Here Hiawatha appears on the dam. The water breaks through the dam, and the beavers hastily hide. Po-Pok-Kivis cannot follow them due to its size. But Hiawatha only manages to catch him, not kill him. The spirit of Po-Pok-Kiwis escapes and takes on the form of a human again. On the run from Hiawatha, Po-Pok-Kiwis turns into a goose, only bigger and stronger than everyone else. This is what destroys him - he cannot cope with the wind and falls to the ground, but runs again, and Hiawatha manages to cope with his enemy, only by calling for help lightning and thunder. Hiawatha loses another of his friends - the strongman Quasinda, who was killed by the pygmies, who fell into his crown with a "blue spruce cone", while he was floating in a pirogue along the river. A harsh winter comes, and ghosts appear in Hiawatha's wigwam - two women. They sit gloomily in the corner of the wigwam, not saying a word, only grabbing the best pieces of food. So many days pass, and then one day Hiawatha wakes up in the middle of the night from their sighs and weeping. Women say they are souls of the dead and came from the islands Afterlife to instruct the living: no need to torment the dead with fruitless grief and calls to return back, no need to put furs, no jewelry, no clay bowls in the graves - just a little food and fire for the road. For four days, while the soul reaches the country of the Afterlife, it is necessary to burn bonfires, illuminating its path. The ghosts then say goodbye to Hiawatha and disappear. Famine begins in the villages of the Indians. Hiawatha goes hunting but fails, while Minnehaga grows weaker day by day and dies. Hiawatha, filled with sorrow, buries his wife and burns the funeral pyre for four nights. Saying goodbye to Minnehaga, Hiawatha promises to meet her soon "in the realm of bright Ponim, / Infinite, eternal life." Yagu returns to the village from a distant campaign and says that he saw the Big Sea and a winged pirogue "larger than a whole grove of pines." In this boat, Yagu saw a hundred warriors, whose faces were painted white, and their chins were covered with hair. The Indians laugh, considering Yagu's story another fable. Only Hiawatha does not laugh. He reports that he had a vision - a winged boat and bearded, pale-faced strangers. They should be met with kindness and greetings - Gitchie Manito said so. Hiawatha tells that the Lord of Life revealed the future to him: he saw "thick hosts" of peoples moving to the West. "Their dialects were different, / But one heart beat in them, / And seethed tirelessly / Their cheerful work: / Axes rang in the forests, / Cities in the meadows smoked, / On rivers and lakes / Sailed with lightning and thunder / Inspired pies ". But the future that has opened up to Hiawatha is not always radiant: he also sees Indian tribes dying in the struggle with each other. Hiawatha, and after him the rest of the Indians, affably greet the pale-faced people who sailed on the boat and join in the truths proclaimed by the mentor of the pale-faced people, "their prophet in black clothes" - to the beginnings Christian religion, stories "about Saint Mary the Virgin, / About her eternal Son." The guests of Hiawatha fall asleep in his wigwam, exhausted by the heat, and he himself, having said goodbye to Nokomis and his people and bequeathed to listen to the wise instructions of the guests sent from the kingdom of light, sails away in his pie to Sunset, to the Land of Ponym, "to the Isles of the Blessed - to the kingdom / Endless, eternal life!"

Heroes and skins:

Hiawatha is a historical face. He lived in the XV century, came out of the Iroquois tribe, became one of the leaders of the Indian people. In folklore, Hiawatha is endowed with the features of a fairy-tale hero. And in Longfellow's interpretation, the story of Hiawatha becomes a poetic legend, a fairy tale in which fantastic fiction is intertwined with folk wisdom. The hero of the poem is an extraordinary creature, endowed with fabulous strength, extraordinary intelligence and courage. He gives all his strength for the benefit of people. This is the image of a real folk hero. Hiawatha teaches the Indians the skill of hunting and farming, he invents writing, reveals the secret of the art of healing.

He learns the secrets of nature, understands the voices of animals and birds, knows how to listen to the sound of the wind, the splashing of the river. The poem creates beautiful pictures of the nature of North America, describes the life of Indian tribes. The authenticity of the description of clothes, weapons, jewelry is combined with a bold flight of fancy. The images of the heroes are poetic: the brave and gentle Chaibayabos, the simple-hearted and bold Kvazind, the slender and flexible Venona, the beautiful Nokomis. All of them are energetic and brave people who care about happiness and actively pursue it. In the final part of the poem, Hiawatha encourages fellow tribesmen to live in friendship with the whites and heed their wise advice. The finale of the poem is permeated with the spirit of forgiveness.

The American researcher of Iroquois folklore X. Hale, commenting on the image of Hiawatha created by Longfellow, notes its “components”: it combines the features of the legendary leader of the Iroquois Hayonwata, Taronhayavagon (the deity of the Seneca Indians) and the mythological hero of the Ojibwe Indians Manaboso. There is a judgment that among the numerous "prototypes" that influenced the creation of the image of Hiawatha, there was Longfellow's acquaintance, George Copeway (1818-1863), the leader of the Ojibwe Indians, and then a preacher and writer.

Hiawatha is not only mythological - he is also a romantic hero, embodying the ideal of American romantics, their dream of a hero who is most fully merged with nature (Emerson). Hiawatha learns from childhood to understand nature, to freely communicate with everything living and inanimate in it, to know its language. His mind is able to perceive and comprehend nature. The relationship between Hiawatha and his wife, and between Hiawatha and his friends are romanticized. Hiawatha combines the features of a poet and a warrior - he is called to free the world from monsters, he is an example of kindness and nobility. In the image of Hiawatha, Longfellow, as it were, compresses together three times: the mythological time of the first ancestors (the time of the birth of rituals and customs, the birth of writing and poetry), the historical time (the unification of the Iroquois tribes) and the ideal time (in which Hiawatha acts as a hospitable host who prepared his people to a meeting with white Christians, as if transferring their lands and their inhabitants new era settlement of the Americas by Europeans). Thus, Hiawatha turns into a grandiose image of a folk hero, connecting the past, present and future.