The Light in the Forest | Plot Summary

Summary

Journey to Fort Pitt

The narrative begins in 1764. True Son—a 15-year-old boy living in the Tuscarawas Valley of present-day Ohio—has been a member of the Lenni Lenape Indian tribe since he was four. His father, Cuyloga, abducted him from a white family and adopted him. Now, True Son learns he must go back to Pennsylvania and live with his white birth parents, whom he does not remember. Cuyloga has made an agreement with Swiss military leader Colonel Bouquet. All the tribal captives will be returned to their white families.

True Son is full of rage and doubt. He despises white people and can't imagine living as one of them. Del Hardy—a young British soldier—escorts True Son to Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania. True Son's friends Half Arrow and Little Crane are able to accompany him for part of the journey. Eventually he must leave them behind. Half Arrow passes on advice from Cuyloga for True Son to remain dignified and obedient in captivity.

Life with the Butlers

While Del is thrilled to return to Fort Pitt—a British military stronghold—True Son is devastated. He sees oppression and confinement in the buildings of the white settlers.

His biological parents, Mr. and Mrs. Butler, grow emotional when their son returns. They want him to use his original name, John Cameron Butler. They also give him a jacket and pantaloons, or trousers. True Son resists both the name and the clothing. However, his younger brother, Gordie, admires True Son's Indian clothes and asks to wear them.

Over the next few days, True Son meets other biological family members, including his aunt Kate, cousin Alec, and uncles Wilse and George Owens. He argues with Uncle Wilse over his involvement in the Paxton Boys uprising, a massacre of 20 Conestoga Indians by several white men from Paxton, Pennsylvania. Uncle Wilse defends his actions.

Several months pass. True Son remains sullen and quiet around his white family. But he adopts some of their practices—attending church, hoeing corn, and learning to read. Mr. and Mrs. Butler are discouraged by their failure to bond with True Son. Parson Elder, a respected community minister, talks to True Son and tells Mrs. Butler that True Son will eventually adapt to their lifestyle.

In the spring True Son becomes ill, and the family worries. True Son feels homesick, but he is determined to follow his inner voice and remain free in his own mind.

Returning to the Forest

During True Son's illness, Mr. Butler is alarmed to learn that two Indians are nearby and that one Indian has been shot. True Son later hears an Indian is in town. Hoping a friend has come to see him, he goes outside and finds Half Arrow waiting. Overjoyed at first, he's soon devastated to learn their friend, Little Crane, was murdered by an unknown white settler.

True Son confronts Uncle Wilse and demands to know who the murderer is. He and Uncle Wilse get into a violent confrontation. Half Arrow nearly kills Uncle Wilse, but the two friends take his scalp instead. They narrowly escape with white settlers in pursuit.

Half Arrow and True Son travel back to the home of the Lenni Lenape tribe. Cuyloga and True Son's other Indian family members are glad to see him, but Little Crane's relatives are angry. They want vengeance for his death.

Final Exile

The Lenni Lenape men form a war party. Cuyloga allows True Son to join as a warrior, and True Son finally feels like a man. He's dismayed, however, to see other members of the war party with scalps of white children. True Son never knew Indians scalped children. That night he dreams that a white child on a boat is in danger.

The war party plans to ambush a boat full of white travelers. They dress True Son in a jacket and pantaloons stolen from murdered white settlers. Their plan is for True Son to act like a drowning white boy and get the boaters to rescue him.

True Son carries out the plan until the boat draws closer. Then he sees a child on the boat who reminds him of Gordie. He suddenly calls out to the boat to turn back, warning them of the ambush.

Repulsed by True Son's betrayal, most members of the war party want to burn him to death. But Cuyloga refuses to let the warriors kill his son. Instead, he decides that True Son should be permanently banished from the tribe. He walks True Son to a path that leads to a white settlement and tells him to make his home with the white people.