Chapter
XXX
Uncas says that he will speak in the Delaware tongue. Tamenund
expresses doubts about his identity, and one of Tamenund’s
advisers claims that Uncas is a false Delaware. Uncas responds
defiantly. Tamenund assumes that Uncas is a Delaware who has
deserted his tribe. He says that his people can do whatever
they want with him. A cry of vengeance goes up, and Uncas must
face torture by fire. A Delaware warrior rips Uncas’s
shirt off. But then everything stops as the Delawares perceive
a tattoo of a tortoise on Uncas’s chest. This indicates
that he has a close affinity with the Delawares, who are known
as the children of the tortoise. In answer to a question from
Tamenund, Uncas reveals that he is the son of the great Unamis
(Turtle). Tamenund exclaims in joy, for he knows that only Chingachgook
and his son retain the ancient blood of the turtle, the original
Indian race, in their veins. Uncas frees Hawkeye and tells Tamenund
that the scout is a friend of the Delawares. Uncas then tells
Tamenund that Magua has no rights over any of the prisoners
except for Cora. Tamenund tries to persuade Magua not to take
Cora, but he refuses. Tamenund then grants him permission to
leave with Cora. Heyward offers a ransom that will make Magua
rich, but he refuses. Hawkeye then offers himself as a prisoner
if Magua will release Cora. Again, Magua refuses and readies
himself to depart. Uncas grants him a truce until the sun descends
to just above the trees.
Chapter XXXI
Uncas sings a war-song and the Delawares prepare for battle
against the Hurons. Hawkeye sends an Indian boy to fetch his
rifle and the rifle of Uncas from where they had hidden them
prior to their entrance into the Delaware camp. The Hurons shoot
at the boy, but he returns safely with the rifles. Uncas gives
Hawkeye command of twenty men, and wants to give Heyward the
same. But Heyward prefers to go with Hawkeye. Uncas gives the
word and two hundred warriors set forth into the forest. They
stop for a conference on how best to proceed, and then spot
what they at first think is a Huron approaching them. Hawkeye
is about to shoot him when he realizes that the man is in fact
David Gamut. David tells them that the Hurons are out in force,
led by Magua. Magua has left Cora in a cavern. Hawkeye comes
up with a battle plan designed to rescue Cora. The other chiefs
agree to it.
Chapter XXXII
Hawkeye notices that David is following them. David says that
he will willingly participate in the coming battle and produces
a sling that he knows how to use. Hawkeye allows him to accompany
them. They are only half a mile from the Huron camp, but at
first there is no sign of the enemy. Then there is a volley
of rifle fire, followed by a retreat by the Huron attackers.
The Delawares press forward, and the rifle fire from both sides
is about equal, but with few casualties. However, Hawkeye perceives
that the situation is not favorable for his men. This situation
changes when the party led by Uncas makes a successful attack.
The battle moves slowly towards the Huron village as the Delawares
continue to advance, even though they sustain casualties. A
final charge gives them the advantage, and there is hand-to-hand
fighting. Chingachgook enters the battle, shooting at the Hurons
from behind them, and the Hurons have no response other than
flight. Hawkeye gives up his command to Chingachgook, the rightful
leader of the Delawares.
Meanwhile, Uncas
and his men are engaged in a battle in the forest with the main
body of Hurons. The Hurons are forced to retreat as both wings
of the Delaware force—one under the control of Chingachgook
and the other led by Uncas—press their advantage. But
Magua and a small band of Hurons refuse to flee. Uncas sees
Magua and rushes after him. The Hurons finally make a stand
around their council-lodge. Uncas again pursues Magua, this
time into a cavern. Magua emerges with Cora, and the chase continues
up a mountain. Cora refuses to go any further, and Magua asks
her to choose between becoming his wife and immediate death.
As Cora prays and Magua cannot make up his mind about whether
to kill her, Uncas leaps down onto the ledge where they stand.
A Huron warrior who is with Magua stabs Cora to death. Magua
strikes Uncas in the back with his tomahawk. Uncas rises to
his feet, but Magua stabs him several times in the chest, killing
him. Then Hawkeye kills Magua with one shot from his rifle.
Chapter XXXIII
The next day, the Delawares mourn their losses. The Hurons have
been completely destroyed. Six Delaware girls attend to the
body of Cora. Her father sits at her feet. The corpse of Uncas
has been dressed in gorgeous ornaments such as bracelets and
medals. Chingachgook sits in front of him. Hawkeye, David, Heyward,
and a visiting French soldier silently observe the scene. Tamenund
gives a mournful address, then a chant is raised in honor of
the dead, and female voices are heard in lamentation. They know
that Uncas had been in love with Cora, and they assume the two
will be united in the afterlife. They praise both of them. Then
Chingachgook speaks in praise of Uncas, and he is followed by
other senior Delawares with their tributes. Cora is buried in
a nearby knell. David sings a sacred song over the grave. Munro
speaks some words of thanks to the women who buried her. Then
he, Heyward, and David leave the village and go off into the
forest. Chingachgook speaks more words of lamentation and grieves
that he is now alone. Hawkeye reaches for his hand and pledges
his friendship.
Analysis
The last chapters bring the interracial theme into clear focus.
In Chapter XXX, Cora says it would be a “degradation”
for her to be married to Magua and produce children by him.
When Magua says “thy race will not end,” she replies,
“Better a thousand times, it should.” In other words,
it would be better to be extinct than to produce children of
mixed race. In giving his character this attitude, Cooper is
merely reflecting the beliefs of the age in which he lived.
The situation is made more complex, however, by the fact that
Cora herself is of mixed race. Even though the non-white blood
in her is far in the past, it is clearly alluded to in the same
chapter, when “her dark eye kindled, while the rich blood
shot . . . into her very temples.” Once again there is
a clear contrast with Alice, whose whiteness Cora envies: “’She
is fair—Oh, how surpassingly fair!’ laying her own
beautiful, but less brilliant hand, in melancholy affection
on the alabaster forehead of Alice.”
In the resolution
of the plot, Cooper is deeply conscious of the racial element.
The couple that he allows to live and prosper is Alice and Heyward—the
perfect match. The problematic triangle of Uncas, Cora and Magua
is resolved only in death. It would have been considered too
shocking for Cooper’s readers to allow Uncas and Cora
to marry. However, Cooper’s sympathies are clearly with
them. He leaves it to the Delaware girls who mourn them both
to point out that Cora “had left the upper earth at a
time so near his [Uncas’] own departure as to render the
will of the Great Spirit too manifest to be disregarded”
(Chapter XXXIII). The women see no reason to disparage this
union in the afterlife, although this is partly because they
are aware of Cora’s mixed heritage, the fact that she
is not pure white: “Why should not such a predilection
be encouraged? That she was of a blood purer and richer than
the rest of her nation, any eye might have seen.” |
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