The Last of the Mohicans; A narrative of 1757
James Fenimore Cooper
Book Club
The Last of the Mohicans; A narrative of 1757
8 ways to start a deeper conversation.
Contains spoilers for the entire book.
Discussion topics
Topic 01 of 08
The wilderness
How does Cooper make the forest itself one of the story's forces?
Keep the conversation going
- What does Hawkeye understand about it that the officers don't?
- How did you imagine the landscape?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.
Discussion topics
How does Cooper make the forest itself one of the story's forces?
Keep the conversation going
- What does Hawkeye understand about it that the officers don't?
- How did you imagine the landscape?
What kind of man is Hawkeye, caught between two worlds?
Keep the conversation going
- Why does he keep reminding people he is 'a man without a cross'?
- What does his friendship with Chingachgook mean?
What makes Uncas the hero of the story?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you make of his feelings for Cora?
- What does the title's 'last' mean for him?
How do the sisters Cora and Alice differ, and why?
Keep the conversation going
- What does Cora's mixed-race heritage mean in the novel?
- How do you read the way Cooper treats it?
What drives Magua, and is his anger justified?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you make of his story of the wrong done to him by Munro?
- Is he simply a villain?
How did the massacre after the surrender of Fort William Henry affect you?
Keep the conversation going
- Who does the novel blame?
- What does it show about the war between empires?
How does the novel portray its Native American characters, and how do you respond to that today?
Keep the conversation going
- What do the 'good' and 'bad' Indians of the story say about Cooper's own time?
- Whose voices are missing?
How did you feel about the deaths of Cora and Uncas, and the old sage Tamenund's lament at the end?
Keep the conversation going
- What does Chingachgook's grief mean?
- What is the 'last' of the title mourning?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.