Now Go Like An Indian True Son Sparknotes

“Now go like an Indian True Son. Give me no more shame.” The light in the forest is a historical fiction novel that tells the story of a young boy who resents being returned to his natural parents. John Butler was at the tender age of 4 when Delaware Indians captured him during a raid on his father’s farm in western Pennsylvania. Adopted by a tribal chief and renamed True Son, he lived for more than a decade in the Ohio wilderness until Colonel Bouquet’s treaty with the Delaware Indians called for reparation of all white captives. On True Son’s reluctant journey to the Paxton settlement, he sees an ancient sycamore that symbolizes his predicament. A dead limb points to the white settlement, while a live branch points back to his beloved Indian culture. The conflict in this story turns on these two claims to his loyalty.

As a result of True Son stubbornly insisting on his Indian identity, he refuses all efforts to reinstate him to the life of family and community.

His invalid mother seems ineffectual, and his father preoccupied with business ledgers and property. Only his little brother, Gordon, provides comfort and companionship. True Son reserves his greatest hostility to his uncle, Wilse Owens, an Indian hater and one of the Paxton Boys, who had massacred Indian women and children in an earlier reprisal against the Conestoga. True Son’s smoldering resentment at his “captivity” in the white settlement reaches a crisis when Half Arrow, his adopted Indian cousin visits one night. Half Arrow shows True Son the Body of Little Crane, killed when he tried to visit his repatriated wife. True Son and Half Arrow vow revenge, but their plans are thwarted. The two boys return to their Indian home, and welcomed with warmth. However, Little Crane’s family is determined to avenge his death and calls for war. When conflict arises, True Son has to pick a side: the family that raised him or his blood family, or he will lose them

both.
In my opinion, The light in the forest is a good novel for anyone interested in westward expansion. I liked how Conrad Richter presents the Indian’s point of view toward the expansion of America, and how he puts an unusual twist on your traditional captivity tale. In history books we are always told about how unfairly the American Indians were treated, and how they got the short end of the stick. The light in the forest is told through the eyes of their perspective. One thing I wish they included was more of True Son’s relationship with his biological parents and brother. True Son’s time spent in the Paxton settlement mostly focuses on his toxic relationship with his uncle, but little is written about his relationship with his family. Conrad Richter writes the story in a third person point of view, for the purpose of the reader being able to see both perspectives of True Son’s reunion with both his white and his Indian family, as well as the perspective of family members versus an outsiders.
To conclude, I would recommend this book to another student who is interested in westward expansion. I would rate this book 4 stars, because I think this book is worth reading. The only part I didn’t really like was how the book ended. True Son’s tribe decided to use him as bait against his white family, and when True Son couldn’t bring himself to follow through the plan, his Indian father banned him from the tribe forever. True Son’s Indian father knew that he wouldn’t be able to do it but he let him anyway, which makes me question if he ever loved him. However, this was a very well written book and this was something that could have happened. To sum things up, I would recommend The Light In The Forest to anyone interested in westward expansion.