Last of the Mohicans- Use of Contrast between Friend and Enemy

So far in the book The Last of the Mohicans, the English and their Indian allies (the main characters included,) have spoken the English language. Even speech between the English aligned Native American characters, talking in their own language, the author has assisted the reader by translating their language to English. This way the speech among the traveling party of main characters flows and leaves the reader in with the characters, which creates a sense of familiarity and comradeship with the reader. In chapter Fourteen, the main traveling crew of characters ran into a French soldier, and when the soldier spoke, the author did not translate into English, but instead left it in French. The party conversed and tricked the French scout into not raising the alarm, but even “good guys” did not have their speaking translated when conversing in French. Realizing this, I went back through the novel and found that conversations between enemy Indians wasn’t translated either. This stands out to me, as it shows another way how Cooper (the author) displays both the French and their Indian allies as savages, and the English and their allied Natives civilized. The enemy’s portrayal as evil is assisted by the fact that the (typical English reader) is left out of their conversations, and therefore can’t understand the motives or plans of the enemy. Its just another way that the author has used to contrast the two rival European nations and their allies to create a deeper context in their fight in the French and Indian War.