The Cry of the Sorrowful Nation - Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans

The Last of the Mohicans is Cooper's outstanding work, telling the early history of the United States, it depicts a spectacular scenery for us in vivid language, and tells us a moving story that takes place during the colonial period with a gripping plot.

The story takes place in the late 1850s, the third year of the "Seven Years' War" between Britain and France for colonies in North America. At the headwaters of the Hedson River and along Lake George, there are two families: the Mohicans and the Hurons.

The Mohicans were righteous and resolute, the Hurons were treacherous and cunning, and the Hurons tried to defeat the Mohicans and dominate the primeval forest. Cora and Alice, the two daughters of Colonel Monroe, commander of Fort William Henry, were abducted on their way to the fort to visit their father.

In order to defend their family, the Mohicans fought chief Chinchagó and his able-bodied son Encas with Colonel Hayward, who was protecting the two daughters of Colonel Munro, commander of Fort William Henry, and his British scout Hawkeye, in a desperate battle with the murderous Huron chief, McGwall.

In the end, Encas defied Magwa's threat and fought with him, and the two died together. During the incident, Korra was also stabbed to death by Magwa, encas in a coffin with the finest shotguns and feathers, and they quietly guarded their master: the strong and fearless new Chief Of Mohican, Encas.

When I first read this book, it was difficult to bring myself into it because I knew very little about the background of the early colonial history of the United States, but as the plot continued to deepen and develop, until the end of the story, this book gave me far more thinking than the Western novels I had read before.

Aggression unleashed under the call of "honor" and "patriotism", and wanton slaughter driven by revenge and nationalism, all those trapped in it poured blood and tears into the consequences that were unbearable for both sides.

In order to grab more benefits, the British and French colonists stirred up dissension among the various Indian tribes and used each other to kill each other. The natives slaughtered the innocent pioneer white people in revenge. The otherwise tranquil land of america is soaked with the blood of peoples of all races.

In the colonial movement, the Indians, as weaker ones, could not choose their own destiny. The colonists' plundering of the land meant the expulsion of the Indians. At the end of the story, Encas is dead, So is Magwa, and the elderly Chingago returns to the jungle. This is a microcosm of the fate of the Indian people.

It is worth affirming that the author portrayed some friendly Indians, changing the mindset that Indians are barbarians in literary works. This restored the colonial history to a certain extent and was of progressive significance at the time.

In particular, the cultural conflicts expressed in the text provide an important basis for us to understand and study the various contradictions in American culture at that time.