Theme in the Light in the Forest
Theme in The Light in the Forest
Teenagers must come to terms with reality at sometime throughout their existence. They arrive at a point where their perception of the world is at once shaken and shattered. In the novel, The Light in the Forest, the story of a fifteen year-old boy's struggle to face his reality is revealed. This character, True Son, who is captured and raised by Indians at age four, believes his Indian lifestyle is perfect and flawless compared to the despicable practices of the white man. After he is forcibly returned to his white family, he finds himself suffering through the state of confusion at being referred as an uncivilized heathen when he knows that they thought nothing about killing innocent childrensomething an Indian would never intend on doing. He believes his white family's reports about the scalping of white children are lies designed to betray his peers. Eventually, True Son faces the crucial truth that his Indian people are no more perfect than the white people when he discovers that one of his own family members has scalped a young white child. This and several other stereotypes concerning the two cultures is a main focus of the novel. Thus, this paper will compare and evaluate the opinions of two critics regarding the major theme of Conrad Richter's The Light in the Forest. Restrictions set forth by civilization is a major theme discussed by both critics, Clifford Edwards and Edwin Gaston. For example, Clifford Edwards claims that Conrad Richter wrote the book from the perspective of True Son to point out that the Indians value freedom as compared to the restricted lifestyle of the so-called civilized white man (Masterplot Complete, 2). According to Edwards, this comparison between the two race's lifestyles is portrayed when "...True Son expresses delight in the wild, joyous, freedom of the natural world and disgust at the whites' thoughtless destruction of the forest, their building of fences, and roofs to
Teenagers must come to terms with reality at sometime throughout their existence. They arrive at a point where their perception of the world is at once shaken and shattered. In the novel, The Light in the Forest, the story of a fifteen year-old boy's struggle to face his reality is revealed. This character, True Son, who is captured and raised by Indians at age four, believes his Indian lifestyle is perfect and flawless compared to the despicable practices of the white man. After he is forcibly returned to his white family, he finds himself suffering through the state of confusion at being referred as an uncivilized heathen when he knows that they thought nothing about killing innocent childrensomething an Indian would never intend on doing. He believes his white family's reports about the scalping of white children are lies designed to betray his peers. Eventually, True Son faces the crucial truth that his Indian people are no more perfect than the white people when he discovers that one of his own family members has scalped a young white child. This and several other stereotypes concerning the two cultures is a main focus of the novel. Thus, this paper will compare and evaluate the opinions of two critics regarding the major theme of Conrad Richter's The Light in the Forest. Restrictions set forth by civilization is a major theme discussed by both critics, Clifford Edwards and Edwin Gaston. For example, Clifford Edwards claims that Conrad Richter wrote the book from the perspective of True Son to point out that the Indians value freedom as compared to the restricted lifestyle of the so-called civilized white man (Masterplot Complete, 2). According to Edwards, this comparison between the two race's lifestyles is portrayed when "...True Son expresses delight in the wild, joyous, freedom of the natural world and disgust at the whites' thoughtless destruction of the forest, their building of fences, and roofs to
Cited: Ewards, Clifford D. "The Light in the Forest." Magill 's Survey of American Literature. Vol. 5. Ed. Frank N. Magill. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1991. . "The Light in the Forest." Masterplots Complete CD ROM. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1997. Gaston, Edwin W. Jr. Conrad Richter. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1965. . "Conrad Richter." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 30. Eds. Stine, Jean C., and Daniel G. Marowski. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1984. Richter, Conrad. The Light in the Forest. New York: Random House Inc., 1981.