Author Description

The unforgettable story of a white boy raised by Indians, and torn between the claims of blood and loyalty in the merciless strugle for the wilderness. (Publisher's description) Major conflict · There are two major conflicts within this novel: True Son's fight against the restrictive, suffocating customs of his white family, and True Son's internal struggle to find true identity in the face of conflicting loyalties to his Indian family and his white brother Gordie. (SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. Web. 29 Aug. 2010) Novel Synopsis Light in the Forest tells the story of True Son, aka John Butler, who was taken hostage by the Lenni Lenape (Delaware) Indians at the age of four. He lived among the tribe on the banks of the Tuscarawas for eleven years. When word reached his village that the Indians must surrender their white prisoners, True Son was returned to his white relatives and a society he no longer knew and could not understand. Missing his Indian parents, True Son wanted no part of this old home and family. A stranger to the white man’s ways, he detested their clothing, their language, their homes, and their behavior. True Son’s preference for his previous way of life baffled his relatives and neighbors. (Chatam Edu.com/curriculum, 29 Aug 2010)