Differences between Cooper's novel Last
of the Mohicans
and the Hollywood film adaptations (1936 and 1992)
(the novel has been made into movies 3 times and into television shows 3 times)
|
Novel |
Movie |
| Major Heywood is manly but inexperienced |
Major Heywood is somewhat effeminate |
| Heywood wants to marry the "fair" Alice |
Heywood is in love with the "dark" Cora |
| Cora has African ancestry, and the novel raises many questions about what "race" and "nation" are |
No questioning of "race" or "nation" at all |
| Cora and the Native American Uncas are in love |
Cora and Hawkeye are maybe in love |
| Hawkeye was a scout for the British army |
Hawkeye was a loner |
| Magua is motivated by the injustices perpetrated against his nation by the English |
Magua is corrupt and motivated by greed |
| the novel does not have this scene or any such notion about colonist vs. English conflict |
movie begins with a scene dramatizing the differences between "American" colonists and English |
| Indians speak French |
Indians speak English |
| Munroe does not die |
Munroe dies |
| ending completely different | ending completely different |
Major Characters
Hawekeye (a.k.a. Natty Bumppo, a.k.a. Nathaniel Poe, a.k.a. Leatherstocking,
a.k.a. "La Longue Carabine")
Chingachgook -- last chief of the Mohicans
Uncas -- son of Chingachgook
Colonel Munroe
Cora -- Munroe's first daughter
Alice -- second daughter
Major Duncan Heward
A website with some criticism of the movie:
http://homepage.mac.com/dmhart/WarFilms/OldGuides/LastMohicans.html