The Light in the Forest Literary Elements

Novel

The action of the novel starts in the year 1764 during the time when the Indians signed a peace treaty with the whites living in what is known today as America. The action is set in Ohio and in Pennsylvania.

The novel has two narrators, Dell and True Son, who recall the events from a subjective point of view. Because there are two narrators coming from different backgrounds and having different ideas about the world around them, the reader is able to see two different points of view and read about how two people who were raised differently see the same thing in a different manner.

Violent, tragic, hateful

Since there are two different narrators, the protagonists and antagonists change according to the narrator. If the narrator is True Son, then the Indians are the protagonists and the white men are the antagonists. If however Dell is the narrator, then good is represented by the white nation and evilness is represented by the Indians.

The major conflict is presented as being between True Son and his uncle, Wilse. The conflict between the two represents at a smaller scale the conflict between the whites and the Indians that existed in the 17th century.

The story reaches its climax when uncle Wilse kills Little Crane.

The bond that will form between True Son and Geordie is foreshadowed by the close relationship that exists between True Son and Half Arrow.

When Mr. Butler hears about Wilse killing an Indian, he chooses to keep event a secret from both his wife and his son, thinking that it will only make them feel worst. While Mr. Butler was aware of the fact that it will make True Son feel worst, he did not anticipate how violent True Son will get after hearing about his friend’s death. Because of this, Mr. Butler’s words can be considered as being an understatement.

In the novel, because there are two narrators and one of the narrators has the opportunity to live both as an Indian and both as a white person, two ways of thinking are presented. What the writes what to suggest through this, is that while something may seem wrong from someone’s perspective, it is completely normal for the other person. It is alludes thus that even though someone may not agree with a person’s actions, it does not mean that those actions are bad or immoral. It is alluded that someone should never judge a nation’s actions through their own perspective but should rather try to understand them and put themselves into their shoes.

In chapter 7, another image is offered on the Indian people when True Son mentions an event that took place in a town where the white population killed the Indian population that became Christians and began living with the white people. According to True Son, those Indians were killed without a real reason and only because the white men wanted to get rid of the Indians living among them. In this chapter, True Son portrays the white people as being pure evil but George Owens and Harry Butler offer another story that lets it be understood that maybe the situation is not as True Son imagined it to be. According to Harry Butler, the Indians were the first to begin killing without a reason, knowing that they will not be punished for their actions. However, if a white man was to kill an Indian, that person was put to train and was almost all the time hanged for his actions. Despite being offered and explanation, True Son continued to believe that the Indians were killed simply because they were different.

An element that is paradoxical is the different definitions offered about freedom. For Dell, True Son is not free, being held captive and away from his true family. Because of this, in his mind, taking True Son away from his Indian family means giving him back his freedom and bringing him back to his true family and civilization. For True Son however, taking him from his family and bringing him to the city means taking away his freedom. True Son was raised free, in close contact with nature and with little to no rules to obey. By taking True Son away from the place where he was raised and introducing him to a constrictive society meant taking away his freedom and putting him in a symbolical jail crueler than a real one.

When True Son meets his biological father for the first time, he can’t stop himself from comparing his white father to the Indian father he had. An element that makes True Son feel disappointed in his father is seeing him openly express his emotions in public. In the Indian culture, something similar to that would not only be considered shameful but also unfitting for a grown man. By drawing this parallel between his biological father and his adopted one, True Son also points out another difference between the two cultures.

In the novel, when someone refers to blood, they do not mean the bodily fluid but rather a person’s nationality. In this sense, blood is not something that a person is born with but rather something that a person acquires over time living in a certain social environment.

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