Posted by Elaine on September 24, 2000 at 22:03:05:
In Reply to: Uncas' Fate posted by Joy on September 24, 2000 at 15:19:14:
: Forgive me if this has been covered before but it's been awhile since I've been here...
: I've learned to accept Heyward's unlikely character reverse in sacrificing himself so Cora and Nathaniel could be together but I've never been able to figure why Uncas was allowed to chase after Alice himself. Chingachook should have been right on his heels - all they had to do was wait another 2 minutes for Nathaniel to catch up, put poor Duncan out of his misery and then all three of them could have taken out Magua's gang together. Uncas was too good to die! Okay, so then the title would be "The Last 2 of the Mohicans" but I would have liked the ending better!
Hi, Joy!
No matter if it's been discussed before or not; I'm surprised no one else has yet replied to this!
Heyward's actions were not so much a reversal, I think, as they were evidence of his long needed adaptation to a new, strange world and his final acceptance of the reality of that world. Probably for the first time since he'd come to America, he was reconciling the virtues of his British military training (self discipline, honor, sacrifice) with a pragmatic 'coming to terms.'
He had lost Cora, of THAT, he was certain. A maturing, perhaps?
Uncas; I don't think he was 'allowed' to take off alone but was determined to do so without waiting for Hawkeye to join them. He was young, poor of judgment, & rash. Chingachgook, being older & wiser stayed until Hawkeye was ready because it was the smart thing to do. No doubt, as Ching raced off in Uncas' footsteps he must've been in a bit of a panic, knowing Uncas would meet Magua.
Endings ... the 'what if's of tales we can imagine.
Elaine