Obstacles In True Son's Life
Obstacles and Hardships in True Son’s Life
Author Conrad Richter once said, “A man needs obstacles and hardships to make him physically, emotionally, and intellectually strong.” True Son, a white boy captured and raised by indians from a young age, faces many hardships and obstacles that end up teaching him valuable lessons in The Light in the Forest penned by Conrad Richter. Three specific hardships True Son faced in the novel greatly affected him: being taken away from his Indian family and being forced to go back to the whites; being offended and ridiculed by his white relatives; and being banished from both his families and cultures at the novel’s conclusion. First, True Son is forced to leave the his adopted Indian family and …show more content…
First, he ran away from his white family with Half Arrow, True Son’s Indian cousin, to return to his Indian family. On his way to the Tuscarawas, the land where his Indian family lives, Half Arrow and he attempted to kill and scalp his Uncle Wilse (Richter, 82-8). This is a huge crime among the whites especially by another white and True Son would be punished and even killed if he returned to the white village. True Son realizes this and knows that he cannot find comfort in the white village. Once true Son reaches the Indian village, they plan to go back to the whites and avenge Little Crane’s death. On their way to the whites, they have True Son act as a decoy to a barge filled with whites so that the Indians may attack, kill, and scalp everyone on board. As True Son is distracting the whites, he begins to think about if his white family was on board and how they were about to be brutally killed. Suddenly True Son screams, “Take him back! It’s an ambush!” to alert the people on board of their soon to be deaths (Richter, 113). This was considered a terrible betrayal that was punishable by death to the Indians. The indians voted on True Son's fate and decided on banishing him from the Indians. These acts caused true Son to lose both of his families in the end. They taught him that he needs to be loyal to his culture and to not constantly criticize
Author Conrad Richter once said, “A man needs obstacles and hardships to make him physically, emotionally, and intellectually strong.” True Son, a white boy captured and raised by indians from a young age, faces many hardships and obstacles that end up teaching him valuable lessons in The Light in the Forest penned by Conrad Richter. Three specific hardships True Son faced in the novel greatly affected him: being taken away from his Indian family and being forced to go back to the whites; being offended and ridiculed by his white relatives; and being banished from both his families and cultures at the novel’s conclusion. First, True Son is forced to leave the his adopted Indian family and …show more content…
First, he ran away from his white family with Half Arrow, True Son’s Indian cousin, to return to his Indian family. On his way to the Tuscarawas, the land where his Indian family lives, Half Arrow and he attempted to kill and scalp his Uncle Wilse (Richter, 82-8). This is a huge crime among the whites especially by another white and True Son would be punished and even killed if he returned to the white village. True Son realizes this and knows that he cannot find comfort in the white village. Once true Son reaches the Indian village, they plan to go back to the whites and avenge Little Crane’s death. On their way to the whites, they have True Son act as a decoy to a barge filled with whites so that the Indians may attack, kill, and scalp everyone on board. As True Son is distracting the whites, he begins to think about if his white family was on board and how they were about to be brutally killed. Suddenly True Son screams, “Take him back! It’s an ambush!” to alert the people on board of their soon to be deaths (Richter, 113). This was considered a terrible betrayal that was punishable by death to the Indians. The indians voted on True Son's fate and decided on banishing him from the Indians. These acts caused true Son to lose both of his families in the end. They taught him that he needs to be loyal to his culture and to not constantly criticize