The Last of the Mohicans: Personification 3 key examples

Cooper has already told the reader that the novel is set during the French and Indian War. This series of conflicts gets its name from the fact that the British were fighting the French for control of territory in North America, and both the British and French formed military alliances with different American Indian groups. Cooper goes on to describe the specific time period when the novel takes place as a moment when "the character of Great Britain" has been brought low. Whereas once the "talents and enterprise of her former warriors and statesmen" placed Great Britain on a pedestal, she is now lacking her former glory.

It was especially common during this period to refer to Great Britain as a human woman. Cooper avails himself of this trend to emphasize the dire straits in which the British and British-allied characters find themselves at the beginning of the novel. Their protector, Great Britain herself, has made a mess of things. The forest is now full of French and French-allied enemies who are much stronger and more numerous than the British troops. These enemies will be trying to hunt down and eradicate British troops and are incentivized to take civilians as prisoners of war. Great Britain herself, meanwhile, is not only powerless but also of a "lower character" than she used to be. This lower character comes into play especially when General Webb refuses to send more troops to protect Fort William Henry, leading to a brutal massacre.

The heroes of the novel are tasked not only with surviving without Great Britain's protection, but also with restoring her former glory. But an argument can easily be made that the main band of travelers, most of whom are not British soldiers, instead establish a new national character: that of the United States. This nation did not yet exist at the time when the novel is set, but the novel is nonetheless considered one of the first American novels.

The air and the flames come to life, as though they have their own sense of agency. The air "breathing" upon the flames through the cracks in the hut conjures the idea of a bellows: it is as if the air is keeping the flames alive, and the flames are lighting the fuse of Magua's anger. The entire environment is driving the feeling of vengeance to a fever pitch.

To further emphasize the intensity of Magua's anger, Cooper compares him to the "Prince of Darkness," which is what John Milton calls Satan in his epic poem Paradise Lost. Satan is the main character of Paradise Lost, and the poem opens on Satan and his devils in the fires of hell. Milton attempts to understand Satan's motivation for bringing sin into the lives of humans in the biblical Book of Genesis; cast out of heaven by a tyrannical God, Satan invades the Garden of Eden not just for fun but to exact revenge and push back against God's power. The poem can easily be read as a political allegory about revolution and rebellion. By comparing Magua to Satan hatching his vengeful plan in the fires of hell, Cooper heightens the stakes of Magua's anger. He is not just one angry man, but rather an angry man with an entire army of "devils" to back him in a revolution of biblical proportions. At the same time, the comparison also suggests that Cooper is interested in understanding the motivation behind Magua's rage. Rather than depict him as a senselessly violent antagonist, Cooper depicts him as a man who is having an intense (even outsized) reaction to being wronged.

Uncas tells Magua that "the Manitou" (meaning Tamenund) has dispensed justice on behalf of the Delawares, and he refuses to go against the declaration. As a single member of a different nation who is in the territory of the Delawares, Uncas must defer to Tamenund. But Tamenund, he implies, does not dispense all justice. There is a greater justice that prevails anywhere else the sun touches. When Magua is on the road and the sun positions itself above the trees (i.e. when it is about noon and sunlight washes over the whole forest), neither Uncas nor Magua will be bound any longer by Tamenund's ruling. At that point, Uncas will be free to lead men after Magua to rescue Cora, dispensing a higher order of justice. Uncas's choice to personify the sun helps emphasize the sense that he is not swearing to go after Magua out of selfishness. Rather, he is looking to a higher power and sense of morality to determine the right course of action. Just as he is letting Tamenund guide his course of action in this moment, he will let the sun guide him in his pursuit of Cora.