The Light in the Forest

The Light in the Forest Summary | Plot Summary

Fifteen-year-old True Son is the adopted white son of Cuyloga and a member of the Lenni Lenape Native American tribe. For the past eleven years he has lived as a true member of the tribe, but now he has learned that he must return to the white family from which he was taken. He does not remember his white family and wants to remain with the tribe, but his father cannot resist the white soldiers who come to take True Son back to Pennsylvania, where he was born. According to Del, the red-haired soldier assigned to guard and translate for True Son, this was done to appease the whites and keep them from further encroaching on Indian land. Cuyloga hates to give up the boy he had loved as his own son, but even more, he hated the thought of the enemy creeping nearer as they attempted to take back what they believe to be theirs.

In spite of his attempts to resist, True Son is taken by the white soldiers. Because he can neither escape nor shame his father by fighting, he begins to despair and even makes a plan to commit suicide. When his cousin, Half Arrow, appears and joins him on the journey, it lifts his spirits. Half Arrow and their friend Little Crane go with the party as far as the river. After a failed attempt by True Son to steal the guard's gun and escape, they turn back while True Son sadly crosses the river with the rest of the captives.

In the town of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, True Son's white father, Henry Butler, comes to claim him. They leave for the family's home in Paxton along with Del, who will translate and make sure True Son does not harm anyone in the family. On the way True Son makes one final attempt to escape and is once again stopped by Del.

At the Butler family home True Son learns that his white name was John, and he meets his younger brother Gordie, his Aunt Kate, and his mother Myra, who has been an invalid since his abduction. They give him his white cousin's clothing to wear and try to make him speak his white name in English, but he refuses. Eventually they take his Indian clothes and moccasins, and he is forced to wear the strange and uncomfortable clothing made for him. The only positive outcome of the meeting is that an early bond forms between True Son and Gordie when Gordie takes an interest in the Indian clothing.

True Son has a difficult time adjusting to his life in white society. The house feels like a prison to him, and he is haunted by the stories he remembers hearing about white violence, even toward Indians who had converted to Christianity. His misery worsens when he meets his Uncle Wilse, who seems to despise him and who tells his father that he will have no luck making a white boy out of him. True Son's relationship with Uncle Wilse is thus adversarial from the start, and they proceed to argue about which race is the more savage. The meeting results in Wilse striking True Son.

True Son becomes more determined to resist assimilation. He refuses, ultimately without success, to wear the white clothes. His homesickness grows when he and Gordie visit the black basket weaver Bejance, who tells him of an Indian named Corn Blade, who lives in the nearby mountains and can speak True Son's language. This leads True Son to sneak off in search of Corn Blade, but he is once again caught.

In the spring, True Son falls ill with a mysterious illness the doctor diagnosis as an Indian ailment resulting from his long Indian captivity. His father worries and blames himself, but healing is not far off: The news that Indians have been spotted in town and have been asking for True Son gives him the strength to leave his bed. He finds Half Arrow outside and learns that Little Crane has been shot and scalped by someone in the town. They blame Uncle Wilse, and in retaliation they beat and nearly scalp him. In the end they are forced to escape into the mountains, where True Son tells Half Arrow they will return to their home village together.

When they reach the Lenni Lenape village, the family of Little Crane assembles the council and calls for revenge on the whites. True Son, his father Cuyloga and Half Arrow join the party, determined to take blood for blood. On the way back to Paxton some of the party stop at a white settlement where they scalp some of the residents, one of them a child. This gives True Son pause because he had so vehemently told his white relatives his people never did violence to children. When they reach the river and discover boats carrying whites, the party decides to lure some of them to shore so they can attack them. As bait, they dress True Son in white clothes and put him in the river. As the next boat approaches he pretends to need help and they steer toward shore. At the last moment he is overcome with guilt about what is about to happen to them, so he warns them of the ambush waiting for them. The whites narrowly escape.

Many of the Indians in the party want True Son to burn for betraying his brothers in this way; however, Cuyloga stands up for him, taking responsibility for his failure to behave like a true Indian. He then tells True Son that he must leave the tribe since his bonds with white society are clearly still strong. He takes him as far as the river, telling him they must then part as enemies. It is the second time True Son has stood on the far side of the river and watched one of his people leaving him behind. He looks ahead of him, seeing the white road leading back to his white home, and realizes he is about to give up the wild freedom of the Indian life for good.