Last of the Mohicans Questions

Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.

  • Is Hawkeye the protagonist of the novel? Why or why not?
  • To what extent can The Last of the Mohicans be read as a love story?
  • What are the Mohican Indians' motivations for escorting and protecting the Munro girls, and then later risking their lives to help rescue them?
  • What are Hawkeye's motivations for doing the same?
  • To what degree do Cora and Alice have agency? Another way of asking this is—do Cora and Alice ever get to make decisions, and if so, what kinds of decisions? In Chapter 11, for instance, we see Alice make the decision that it is better for them to die than see Cora marry Magua. What constrains the decisions the sisters are allowed to make, and how do they ultimately decide?
  • What are the most important types of relationships in the novel? Familial? Romantic? Something else?