James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans is a story about the French and Indian War and more specifically the family of Colonel Munro and their relationships with the Native people.

Symbolism is a literary device in which objects, people, or places, are given meaning other than their literal meanings. The Last of the Mohicans has a lot of symbolism. The title of the novel is a symbol. Many of the characters and their behaviors in this novel are also symbols.

The title, The Last of the Mohicans, is a symbol of the death of a Native American Tribe. Throughout the novel, the Native American Tribe loses its identity to European colonization. This title is a symbol of how tribes were treated historically in America, especially in the 1800s when President Jackson encouraged the genocide of Native Tribes.

Hawkeye is a character in this novel who adapts to European ways of life. He is a symbol of the new type of man who grew from the assimilation of the tribes into European culture. Hawkeye is sort of a hybrid between the Uncas and the colonizers.

Throughout the novel, the characters often dress up in disguises. Characters dress as beavers, as bears, and as other men and women. This behavior is a symbol that shows that true identities are always revealed despite one's attempts to keep them hidden.