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.
Character Analysis
Little Tree
Little Tree is the protagonist and the first-person narrator of the novel. All the events are presented through his limited understanding of the world and the situations to which he is exposed. The Education of Little Tree therefore serves as his Coming of Age story, and he acts as a dynamic character who grows from a frightened, shy, uncertain child to a confident mountain man at the end of the book. As the novel progresses, he learns valuable lessons from his grandparents about life, people, and the natural world and applies those lessons to his life to improve himself.
As an archetype, Little Tree is a explorer who is constantly curious about the world around him and wants to experience it all. This tendency aids his growth but also makes his character development more challenging, for although he is a willing learner who always tries to improve upon his mistakes, he is never fully satisfied with what he has already achieved. At an early age, he makes it his goal to match the skill and wisdom of his grandparents as quickly as possible; essentially, he wishes to have the wisdom of a sage even in the midst of his childhood and is therefore in a bit of a rush to grow up. Because he wants to learn skills so quickly, he often fails to appreciate the value in key moments as they are happening around him.
Granpa
Granpa is the secondary main character of the novel and is Little Tree’s primary guide to the ways of mountain living. He is wise in the ways of nature and views the natural world as a source of kinship and friends rather than seeing nature as a tool to be used and discarded, as many other people do. Although he lack sophisticated social knowledge, his in-depth understanding of nature makes him one of the two Sage character archetypes in the book. As he learns the ways of mountain life, Little Tree asks Granpa many questions and receives many answers about the ways of the world. When Granpa doesn’t know the answer, he usually has an adjacent experience that helps him to supply his grandson with some additional wisdom, nonetheless.
As a static character or flat character, Granpa does not display any significant character growth throughout the story. This character type does not grow as a person through the story and often acts as a stable presence through which the dynamic character of the story—Little Tree—can learn and grow. Within the world of the story, Granpa is static because he is old enough to be stuck in his own ways, and also because his limited lifestyle offers him few opportunities to learn and to grow. He keeps to himself and does not seek out new experiences beyond the spheres in which he lives and thrives.
Granma
Granma is the second example of the Sage archetype in the story. Whereas Granpa teaches Little Tree about the ways of nature, Granma teaches him how to read, and through her reading, she also helps him to obtain a more traditional education. She encourages him to memorize words from the dictionary and practice using them in sentences, and she helps him to learn when to stand down rather than to fight. The practical social wisdom that she brings to Little Tree’s education complements the knowledge of the natural world that Granpa provides, allowing Little Tree to have a well-rounded education.
However, despite these notable strengths, Granma is also a flat character. She does not grow through the story and never learns anything new or meaningful that changes her character. She does not seek out new real-life opportunities for learning, either, but instead chooses to learn about the world and its ways second-hand, through books and reading. Likewise, she does not advocate for change, but ultimately, she does encourages Little Tree to seek better circumstances for himself and for the world.
