An Analysis Of Conrad Richter's The Light In The Forest

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Recommended: The conflict between the white settlers and the Native Americans

In the book, The Light in the Forest, by Conrad Richter there is an ongoing conflict between the whites and the Indians about who is the most savage. A true savage is a person or people that is regarded as primitive and uncivilized. Though both sides commit atrocious crimes against each other, the white people show to be more cruel toward the Indians in the way they act superior to them. The difference in the ways they express their religion, way of living and teachings is an example of the white people showing their superiority towards the Indians.
One pressing issue among the conflicting sides is that there have been so many wrongs made between both sides that it’s impossible for them to see the good in each other. Both sides have no empathy for the other, therefore they make false allegations to prove the other wrong. “Well, once an Indian, always and Indian. You can make an Indian out of a white man but you can never make a white man out of and Indian”(64). By this, Uncle Wilse means there is no way a man can be trusted if they are influenced by the Indians.
Most people, within the colonial era, believe all white people are good beings, but tricking and stealing from the Indians proves otherwise. The white people …show more content…

A whole village of Indian families, slaughtered by the hands of the Paxton Boys. True Son’s white uncle makes foul accusations upon the Indians, True son protests, saying, “...you had forty, fifty men. You had horses, knives, tomahawks, and rifles. You blow heads off of Indian men. You kill Indian woman and young ones. Not one is left. You scalp. You chop. You cut off hands and try to cut off feet-”(68). Uncle Wiles’s justification for this behavior is, this was the best thing that could have happened to them, the Indians got what they deserved. These repulsive claims against the Indians prove that the white people are the true

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