42 pages • 1 hour read
Forrest CarterThe Education of Little Tree
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1976A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Historical Context: The Education of Little Tree in the Classroom
The 1990s revelation that The Education of Little Tree was a work of fiction, rather than its original marketing as a memoir, presented challenges to the classroom settings that taught it. Prior to the revelation, classrooms would discuss the book within the context of seeking to understanding the Cherokee way of life and encouraging cultural understanding. Its initial uses in the classroom also promoted the protection of nature, a lens that is still relevant to a larger analysis of the narrative’s structure. However, even after the truth of the novel’s origins came to light, educators still argue for the relevance of the book in the classroom, though the goals of its discussion and analysis have changed significantly.
Rather than discussing the book as an authentic memoir and examining it to understand one form of Native American lifestyle, educators now press their students to read the novel with a wary eye and use the events of the story to identify moments that reflect Asa Earl Carter’s own biases and prejudices. Students now read critical receptions and commentaries published about the book both before and after its fictitious nature came to light. The guided analysis and discussion in secondary classrooms challenge students to examine and differentiate fact from fiction, and to consider what information from the book is useful and what elements are harmful stereotypes. The Education of Little Tree, which was initially perceived to diversify the classroom curriculum, has now become an exercise in close reading, careful analysis, and critical awareness of social stigmas and stereotypes.
In the hands of a careful instructor, this book can also open discussion about the connections between the events of the novel and the present day. Readers can connect the faux-memoir style to authors they are familiar with and discuss how that perspective may shift understanding and discussion related to a book. It can also open discussion about why the presented stereotypes are harmful and encourage students to consider other situations in which stereotypes are present and harmful to a community. These lenses allow both teachers and students to appreciate the merits of The Education of Little Tree as a story while recognizing the importance of separating fact from fiction.
Literary Background: Bildungsroman
The bildungsroman is a type of literature that explores the protagonist’s physical, moral, and emotional growth from the beginning to the end of the plot. This type of story will typically serve two purposes. The first is to show how a youth transitions into adulthood, or to a more mature state of being. The second purpose is to critique the social structures that place the youthful protagonist in demanding situations. In novels such as Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, for example, Twain guides readers through Huck’s adventure down the Mississippi River and charts his growth from a young boy accepting of the unjust social structures based on race to an adult who challenges those structures and calls for an end to slavery. Whereas Huck initially sees slavery through the uncritical eyes of a child, he completes his journey when he grows to see the system through the eyes of maturity and tries to bring change.
The Education of Little Tree falls within the traditional structure of the bildungsroman while simultaneously challenging it. When Little Tree first appears in the story, he is in his early years, naïve and inexperienced. He goes to live with his grandparents and does not yet understand how the world works, as is evidenced when he sees the best in people and cannot believe that they would be intentionally cruel. By the end of the novel, however, Little Tree has seen the cruelty of the world and wants no part of it. This is where the novel deviates from the traditional bildungsroman. At no point does the narrative call for change. Instead, it sets up a world in which the main characters, Little Tree and Granpa, want the government to leave them alone but never challenge the government’s views of Native Americans. The novel also fails to challenge the social stigmas present in the story that demean the Cherokee characters. While Little Tree matures and chooses to live life his own way, there is no call for grander societal change.
