White man
After recovering True Son from his Indian family, Dell analyzes his captive and describes his tanned skin, darker than the skin of the whites around him, and the way he is dressed, with clothes normally worn by Indians. Despite all this, Dell sees the similarity between True Son and a typical white person. No matter how much True Son tries to blend in with his Indian family, the truth is that he is still white and no matter how much he wishes things could be different, he can’t change who he is.
Holy book
Before leaving True Son, Half Arrow and Little Crane spend a night with him and discuss the customs white men have and how they differentiate themselves from the Indians. The three discuss how white men need a holy book to tell them right for wrong, something that the Indians do not have since they not instinctively what is right and what is wrong. For them, the existence of a Great Book shows that they are inferior since they lack the basic instincts true Indians have. Thus, the Great Book is a metaphor for inferiority.
Bear
True Son’s father compares the situation his adoptive son finds himself in with something that happened to him. Cuyloga reminds True Son of the time he had to fight a bear but instead of rejoicing for the fact that he had won, he cried. True Son was also fighting against a metaphorical bear, the white society and culture he was taught to hate and consider as being evil. But just like his Indian father, True Son had to learn how to behave in certain situations, learn to have patience and act when the time is right.
Metaphor for confinement
The clothes people wear is considered as being an important element and is closely liked with a person’s identity. One of the first things True Son notices about his father is the way he is dressed and he even compares the way white men dress as being similar to the fashion in which Indian women dress. When True Son is asked by his biological mother to changes his clothes and discard his Indian clothes and wear clothes worn by white people. True Son feels as if he is suffocating. In his mind, the clothes worn by the whites are links with the idea of confinement and restriction while his Indian clothes are synonym with freedom. Because of this, he is reluctant to change his clothes and give up the only thing that identifies himself as Indian.
Metaphor for loss of control
In the ninth chapter, True Son meets Parson Elder. The Parson speaks with True Son and after noting how mature the young man is, offers him some whiskey to drink. True Son refuses to drink the alcohol offered to him, claiming that the only reason the Parson wants to give him a drink is to make him behave strangely and act more like a white man. In his mind, drinking whiskey is associated with whiteness and with their ways. For True Son, drinking too much is detrimental to a person and for him whiskey is a metaphor for loss of control and is associated with the destructive white way of life.
