The Light in the Forest

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The Light In the Forest Symbols Essay When you hear the word “Indian,” you think of people who live in teepees, shoot bows and arrows for their food in the woods, & fish for their food. You think of them as people of nature and spirituality. Well, they are more than just people of the woods, they have other characteristics that define who they are too. In the book The Light in the Forest, the author Conrad Richter uses people, events, and places as symbols for different ideas and cultures in the novel. There are several examples of how he uses these symbols in the novel. He gives the book meaning and engulfs you into the plot using these symbols, making The Light in the Forest more enjoyable and have you wanting to read it again. There are many examples of Conrad Richter using people as symbols in The Light in the Forest. One of these examples is how he uses True Son as a symbol for Victimization. He is showed as a victim because he was kidnapped as a child from his parents. Then, when he is returned to his white parents later in the story, he is hostile towards them and believes he is an Indian. He is very hostile towards the white people when they tell him he is white and they tell him he has to go home to his white family, “I’ll never go back to Pennsylvania,” (9). This shows that he became a victim of the Native Americans because they made him think that the Whites were bad people. Another example of how symbolism in characters is shown, is how he uses True Son’s Native American father, Cuyloga, as a symbol for Knowledge and Wisdom. When the Indian war council is deciding on True Son’s punishment, Cuyloga speaks out, “...What do you expect of me -to stand idly by as you burn my son? My son has brought death to none of us. The scratches he gave us are not on our bodies but our pride,” (113). This symbolizes knowledge and wisdom because he uses

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