Tuesday, April 12, 2011 Reading Blog

     This week, I've been reading The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter. This historical fiction novel tells the story of a white boy, named True Son, who was kidnapped at birth by the Indians at age four. After being raised by them and learning their ways, he is returned to his white family. True Son is very hateful toward his white family and considers them the enemy. So, he runs away with his Indian cousin and heads back to his Indian home.
     When True Son is leaving his Indian father whom he loves and admires, his father tells him, "Now go like an Indian, True Son. Give me no more shame". While True Son is living with his white family, he tries to remember and live by his father's words. True Son would always try to conceal his emotions and stay calm and strong. However, he wouldn't always be able to keep it up.
      True Son learns that Indians are not perfect after all, and that not only have whites killed inocent people, but Indians have as well. This changes True Son's way of thinking and he begins to realize that both Indian and white societies have imperfections.
     Throughout the story, True Son really is just searching for his identity. He feels loyalty toward his Indian father but he knows that other whites see him as one of them and that he has a white family who loves him. His good relationship with his white little brother and the realization that his fellow Indians do kill white children confuses True Son. This internal conflict is an exageration of what all teenagers ask themselves: "Who am I?"
     I predict that since True Son has run away with his Indian cousin, this will cause a war to break out. True Son will have to choose sides and give all of his to loyalty to it.

--- Maryjo