The Light in the Forest | Conrad Richter

The Light in the Forest | Conrad Richter | Powerful story on a complex topic.

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The Light in the F...

	The Light in the Forest Conrad Richter Vintage, 2004 - 192 pages average customer review:based on 174 reviews view larger image
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When John Cameron Butler was a child, he was captured in a raid on the Pennsylvania frontier and adopted by the great warrrior Cuyloga. Renamed True Son, he came to think of himself as fully Indian. But eleven years later his tribe, the Lenni Lenape, has signed a treaty with the white men and agreed to return their captives, including fifteen-year-old True Son. Now he must go back to the family he has forgotten, whose language is no longer his, and whose ways of dress and behavior are as strange to him as the ways of the forest are to them. A beautifully written, sensitively told story of a white boy brought up by Indians, The Light in the Forest is a beloved American classic.

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No Heroes Here

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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Powerful story on a complex topic.

When I first read this book, I HATED it. The main character seemed boring, the story seemed far fetched, and the ending left much to be desired. But after I read the story, I was haunted by it. This is not a story for people who like their ends tied up, and love happy endings. This is a story that moves in the direction of life; the issues are complex, and the end leaves questions unanswered the way they are in the real world.

Throughout this novel, the very complex issue of race relationships between the Native Americans and the Whites are explored. The real beauty of this book is that it is fair to both groups. It does not take the side of one and disparage the other. The author shows that both groups have both positive and negative traits, and that both groups suffer because they continue to carry on the racial prejudice of their ancestors. They are born under circumstances they did not ask for, and must live with the consequences of them. This is what moves the action in the story, and this is what causes the climax of the story...essentially, when True Son tries to not act within the context of the struggle between races.

The tone of this book is not preachy at all. My favorite part is when the minister comes to speak to True Son. In this conversation, a very deep topic is discussed...both characters bring up the fact that both races wronged each other. This is one of the great points of this story--to go somewhere and say something that is true, but wouldn't have normally been said because of political correctness.

I did take issue with the author referring to the Native Americans as "Indians." Even the Native Americans in this book call themselves Indian, and I think the author would have known better. And the slowest and hardest part of the book was when True Son was on the run. The author creates great images, but the language is hard to read.

This is a haunting work of beauty. Many won't like it because it tackles a difficult subject, and it doesn't diminish the complexity, or hide it behind a "feel good" message. But for those who don't mind looking at the uncomfortable parts of life and history, this is a solid read.

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The Light in the Forest 1953

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.

Self-discovery

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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