In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-5

Chapter 6

Chapters 7-8

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Jimmy’s Light Hair and Blue Eyes

Jimmy’s light hair and blue eyes are a motif that helps the novel explore The Journey of Personal Growth and Understanding. When the story begins, Jimmy’s physical appearance makes him self-conscious. Jimmy is three-quarters Lakota, but while the other Lakota children have dark hair and brown eyes, Jimmy has inherited the light hair and blue eyes of his white grandfather. These physical traits mark him as different and separate him from his peers. When other children like Corky and Jesse tease Jimmy for his hair and eye color, he feels like he doesn’t fit in as either a white person or a Lakota.

Jimmy’s personal growth during his time with Grandpa Nyles connects closely with his appearance. Grandpa Nyles inspires Jimmy with the fact that he shares his light hair color with the legendary hero Crazy Horse, who was even named Light Hair when he was a young man. Even though they live in different time periods, Jimmy and Crazy Horse’s similar appearance draws the two of them together, allowing the novel to focus on the parallels between their journeys from childhood into adulthood. Linked by hair color, Jimmy can take Crazy Horse as his role model and learn how to become a better person by following Crazy Horse’s example. By the story’s conclusion, Jimmy has found his place amid the Lakota community, having realized that his physical traits don’t determine his identity.

Crazy Horse’s Rifle and Horse

Crazy Horse’s rifle and horse are symbols that represent the Lakota leader’s warrior spirit and status as a free Lakota. Both are intimately tied to Crazy Horse’s battle skills and his many fights against the white soldiers. For example, he relies on his horse to keep him safe during his decoy mission before the Battle of the Hundred in the Hands, even stopping under gunfire to clean his horse’s feet in the middle of the false retreat from Fort Phil Kearny. The rifle he carries underlines the fact that Crazy Horse was at war for much of his life. Just as the white soldiers are identified by the Lakota as the “Long Knives”—a name that intimately connects them to a specific weapon—Crazy Horse’s rifle becomes part of his identity as a strong fighter.

The symbolism of Crazy Horse’s rifle and horse comes through most strongly during his surrender at Fort Robinson. When Crazy Horse hands over the rifle and horse to the white man, he shows that he is giving up fighting. Knowing that he can’t win against the white settlers, he exchanges his warlike nature to protect vulnerable members of the Lakota. In giving up the horse, it is as if Crazy Horse—whose name includes the word “horse”—is giving up part of himself. His identity as a free Lakota leader no longer exists, but this surrender is worth it to protect his people.

Wagon Trail Marks

The wagon trail marks that Jimmy and Grandpa Nyles find in Wyoming are a symbol that represents the lasting impact of westward expansion. The trail marks were left behind by white settlers traveling along the Oregon Trail in the middle of the 19th century. The fact that they ran directly through Lakota territory shows that the settlers did not care about the rights of the Indigenous people. The deep ruts from those wagons suggest that the settlers were selfish or unaware; they left lasting changes on the country but didn’t care what damage their activities caused to the natural environment or the people that already lived there.

The great size of the wagon trail marks demonstrates the sheer number of white settlers that rapidly moved across the country during the period, underlining the hopelessness of Lakota efforts to combat the invaders. No matter how bravely Crazy Horse and the other Lakota fought the Long Knives, more and more white settlers and soldiers would come to take their place. The novel compares the marks to scars on the land, suggesting that the white settlers left destruction in their wake as they moved west. The marks still exist today, indicating that the wounds caused by that westward expansion are still unhealed.