The Education of Little Tree
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The Education of Little Tree is a memoir-style genre novel by Forrest Carter. Since its first publication by Delacorte Press in 1976, the book has been the subject of controversy and acclaim. It has spawned films, a sequel attempt and scores of graduate theses. In 1985, the University of New Mexico Press bought the book's rights. It has sold millions of copies, a rare level of success for a book distributed by an academic press.
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[edit] Plot summary
The false memoir of Forrest "Little Tree" Carter begins in the late 1930s as the protagonist is given over into the care of his Cherokee grandparents, at the age of five years. The book was originally to be called "Me and Grandpa," according to the book's introduction. The story centers on a clever child's relationship with his Scottish-Cherokee grandfather, a man named Wales (an overlap with Carter's other fiction).
The boy's "Indian thinking" 'Granpa' and Cherokee 'Granma' call him 'Little Tree' and teach him about nature, farming, whiskey makin', mountain life, society, love and spirit by a combination of gentle guidance and encouragement of independent experience.
The story takes place largely during the sixth year of the boy's life, as he comes to know his new home in a remote mountain hollow. Granpa runs a small whiskey operation during Prohibition, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. The grandparents and visitors to the hollow expose Little Tree to supposed Cherokee ways and "mountain people" values. Encounters with outsiders, including "the law", "politicians", "guv'mint", city "slickers" and "Christians" of various types add to Little Tree's lessons, each phrased and repeated in catchy ways. Which can be annoying after a while. (One of the syntactic devices the book uses frequently is to end paragraphs with short opinionated phrases starting with the word 'which', such as the sentence preceding this parenthetical remark.)
The state eventually removes Little Tree to an orphanage, where he stays for a few months. He is "rescued" by an old Indian friend who intimidates the Reverend in charge into allowing Little Tree's release.
[edit] Literary, Personal and Political Controversies
The book was part of a blossoming period for Native American memoirs and genre fiction, both before and after it was shown to be a fictional work posing as factual memoir. The controversies and discussions surrounding the story are generally centered on these main areas:
- the clash of the factual details depicted in the book with those of the author's life
- the clash between the cultural descriptions given in the book and traditional values, language and culture, as reported by Cherokee reviewers
- the legitimacy of fictionalized memoirs by a member of a privileged class depicting life within an underprivileged class
- the book's racial sympathies and intentions of the author
These issues are magnified by the author's avowed racism earlier in life, and by his later decision to distance himself from that past, change his name and hide his identity as he started his literary career. Born Asa Earl Carter, the author had a previous career as a political agitator producing segregationist materials and launching White Supremacist organizations, as well as writing for electoral campaigns and running for public office himself.
Instead of revealing this, the publisher's remarks in the original edition describe him (inaccurately) as "Storyteller in Council" to the Cherokee Nation. When Carter's background was revealed, the book was reclassified by the publisher as fiction, although the publisher never amended the introduction or book jacket with explicit caveats describing the hoax.Even though this book is not a memoir it is a funny,heartwarming and enjoyable classic. Today, a debate continues as to whether the book's lessons are altered by the identity of the author. When analyzed for white supremacist ideology, imagery and language, all three have been found.
Other misinformation supplied in earlier editions included a dust jacket summary which infamously described the fictional orphanage as intent on assimilating Little Tree. The assertion is in direct contradiction with the story contained, a blatant mistake which lent extra confusion and passion to the controversies surrounding the book's content. Some later editions included dust jacket photos of Forrest Carter at five, ten, and fifty, plus a photo of Granpa. The photos show Carter with a light complexion and light hair color.
Members of the Cherokee Nation have said that so-called "Cherokee" words and customs in The Education of Little Tree are inaccurate, and that the novel's characters are stereotyped. Several scholars and critics have agreed with this assessment, adding that Carter's treatment of Native Americans plays into the romantic but racist conceit of the "Noble Savage".
When Carter died in 1979 he was working on The Wanderings of Little Tree, a sequel to The Education of Little Tree and on a screenplay version of the book. After Carter's death, the fact that Forrest Carter was actually Asa Earl Carter was again exposed (following the original 1976 New York Times expose) by Dan T. Carter, who was a distant cousin and history professor. The supposed autobiographical truth of The Education of Little Tree was revealed to be a hoax.
Despite controversy surrounding the author's identity and legitimacy, The Education of Little Tree was critically acclaimed and won the 1991 American Booksellers Book of the Year (ABBY) award. In 1997, The Education of Little Tree was adapted into a made-for-TV movie but was instead given a theatrical release.
[edit] External links
- The Education of Little Tree at the Internet Movie Database
- "The Education of Little Tree" at American Indians in Children's Literature, August 23, 2006
