Re: Mohicans

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: : : 
: : : : : : : What is the proper name of the person who is believed to be the last
: : : : : : : Mohican??

: : : : : And, of course, if you are referring to the Michael Mann movie, rather than the books, Chingachgook refers to HIMSELF as the last of the Mohicans.  

: : : : : MMMMarcia

: : : : I don't remember that specifically, but why would he do that?  He wasn't a man who overlooked the existence of his son, certainly.  I wonder - was that a slip on the part of the script writers?  On the other hand, once Uncas was dead, yes, Chingachgook was the last.  When did his reference to himself as the last come?

: : : : Gayle

: : : Ken, Marcia, Rich and Gayle,

: : : I always felt that Chingachgook was lamenting the fact that not only his family ended with the death of his son, but his entire tribe ended, also.  He was left alone on this earth - the last of his people.   To me it is a metaphor for the destruction of an entire race of people - the American Indian.  When Chingachgook refers to himself as "the last of the Mohicians" it is sad on the human level because of the loss of his beloved son.  It is catastrophic on a larger scale because of the loss of his tribe and, on an even larger scale, the decimation of a race of people. To me, it is the sadist moment of the movie and what it was all about.
: : : Did anyone else feel this way or am I treading water alone?
: : : Pat

: : Pat, I am in 100% agreement. THAT is the movie!

: Just an additional note to the question of who was the last of the Mohicans.  In the book, Hawkeye asks Chingachgook, "But where are to be found those of your race who came to their kin in the Delaware country, so many summers since?"

: And Chingachgook replies, "Where are the blossoms of those summers! - fallen, one by one; so all of my family departed, each in his turn, to the land of the spirits.  I am on the hilltop and must go down into the valley; and when Uncas follows in my footsteps, there will no longer be any of the blood of the Sagamores, for my boy is the last of the Mohicans."

: This is a beautiful and eloquent speech, but I wonder why Cooper placed it at the very beginning of the book.  At that point Chingachgook would not have known that Uncas would be killed, and I should think he would have assumed that Uncas would marry and father sons of his own.  I think Mann did it better by reserving Chingachgook's eloquence til the end of the movie.  Stronger impact, somehow, and far more significant.

: Gayle



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