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Rating:  -
When I started reading "The Light in the Forest" I thought it was going to be one of those typical Davy Crockett `boy who goes to live in the forest' books. What I was not expecting was the amount of culture and loyalty pounded into the pages. The way the Indians simply enjoyed living and coexisting with everything around them was astounding. The way that this boy saw the earth, the moon, and the animals as his kin amazed me, because in this day and age we think of animals as, well, just animals.
The book wasn't terribly suspenseful, but it did keep me wanting to read to see if True Son would ever escape the clutches of his white family and get back to his Indian tribe. The way that Richter wrote the book actually turned me against True Son's white family and made me just about cheer when Half Arrow reappeared to help him escape.
It also threw the end into sharp irony with the whole of the book, because now True Son is forced to leave again, not by white soldiers but by his former Indian tribe. The end to The Light in the Forest differs from other classics I've read by, instead of giving the main character a sweet and happy ending, it hurls him into an unsure and most likely unpleasant future. However, the ending doesn't diminish the book at all; rather, it adds to its ability to stand out. I fully recommend The Light in the Forest for any reader interested in Native Americans.
Rating:  -
The Light in the Forest is very sad. It's sad because it tells the story of the uncompromising conflict of ideologies between the English settlers and their Native American contemporaries. I watched the Disney movie first, which, though a bit cheesy, is lovable in its own way. The book was completely different. No happy ending, no romance, no love. Especially the chapter where True Son meets his relatives just seethes with hatred. I felt like Richter had tried to portray a fair picture of the wrong on both sides--although history may be forever ambiguous on that point--, but as such, the book makes for some pretty depressing material. The one redeeming factor, however, is its incredible portrayal of the Ohio wilderness. Richter's love for and appreciation of his homeland shine forth in lyrical truth that is not quickly forgotten. The book ends rather abruptly; reading its companion volume, A Country of Strangers, helps tie up the loose ends.
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Plot Kernel - A 15 year old boy, who had been captured at age 4 by Delaware Indians is returned along with other white captives to Fort Pitt to be reunited with his family. The boy, named True Son by his adoptive Indian father, considers himself to be an Indian, and feels his return to white civilization is a captivity by whites. Despising the ways of white culture, he thinks only of returning to his Indian family. Eventually, with the help of his Indian cousin he is able to escape. But in the end he finds a conflict of values he cannot resolve.
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Good story of a young boy, True Son, who is struggles with self-discovery. Interesting and unexpected ending. Great discussions with middle school students.
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I just completed reading this to my pre-teen kids, who enjoyed the story and who became particularly engaged as the complexity of the moral drama intensified in the final two chapters. There are many reviews on this page that summarize the plot, and I won't repeat everything except as is needed to make a few points in review.
It's a good book, although I got a little whiff of "PC" early in the book that was an initial turn off. The plot is built around the story of a white teenager who is being returned to his "English" family 12 years after he was kidnapped from them by Indians (that's the book's term, by the way, for Native Americans). The boy, Johnny or True Son by name (the latter, a misnomer of the highest order), faces the unbearable dilemma of being taken from the Indian people who he knows as family and friends and being returned to a culture that is alien to him. In his head, we are treated to the evils of white culture (fences and rules and cold dark houses and strange restricting religions) and the virtues of the Indian life (the forest and brother wind and bravery and running around naked). True Son (or Johnny's) white family is not presented favorably, with a weak little father, a pathetically invalid mother, and a handful of jerks for extended family - in other words, pretty much like many white families I know today! In contrast, True Son yearns to be reunited with his brave brown Indian family, who he sees without fault or flaw.
It is in the mid-part of the book that the reader should see that everyone has screwed up here (and, with the expection of one solitary character, this is reinforced well by the end of the novel). The Indians have committed the dastardly act of kidnapping the child of another family (on the justification that True Son's Indian father is looking for a replacement for a son that died) and then releasing him as part of a treaty (knowing of course that this was entirely appropriate given the decade-old crime). Johnny's white family cannot be blamed for wanting him back or for taking the opportunity to get him back, despite his own resistance. Hey, this was before the golden age of counseling, and perhaps some talk therapy or even drugs would have helped the situation, but this is the frontier we're talking about.
Eventually, True Son gets a shot at returning home, and he takes it. In doing so, stupid and violent bloodshed is unleashed on both sides. And this is where it becomes crystal clear that there are no heroes in this book. Whites hate Indians, Indians hate whites (and have no qualms about scalping little girls, or almost anything else that moves), and everyone possesses weapons. One constant theme throughout the book is Love. True Son's Indian family loves him (as he loves them), and it is his Indian father who sacrificially saves his life in the end. Johnny's white family loves him too. Ultimately, the great climactic scene of the novel turns on Johnny/True Son's love of his little white brother, Gordie (the only character in this book who won't tick you off at some point).
Quite a book. Slight blip on the PC meter, but in balance, an objective portrait of a time and place that we may never fully understand. I'm sorry to see so many young people panning the book on this site, but what the heck can you expect from kids these days? Trying shutting your mouth and opening your mind.
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