The Arrow Over the Door

Bruchac, Joseph. The Arrow Over the Door. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1998.

    Bruchac’s novel , The Arrow Over the Door, for upper elementary and middle school students is historical fiction about a Quaker boy and an Indian boy during the Revolutionary War.  The story takes place in 1777 and alternates between viewpoints of Samuel, the Quaker boy, and Stands Straight, the Indian boy.  The Indian boy is part of the Abenaki tribe and he is scouting for King George.  Samuel, growing older and more mature questions his family’s beliefs about being friends with everyone throughout the story.  For example, his house does not have a lock on the door because his father believes a lock on the door shows that the owner is worried about items being stolen from inside and is not welcoming to others.  Samuel continues to question his family’s beliefs throughout the novel.  Samuel’s family goes to a meeting with other Friends or Quakers to discuss the war and their feelings and thoughts about it.  At the same time, Stands Straight is in the woods near the Quakers meeting place with his uncle and other Abenakis who are assessing the Quakers and thinking about taking some of them as captives in return for their family members that have been killed.  The Abenakis approach the Quaker’ meeting and decide not to use any violent actions against them since the Quakers do not have any weapons.  They place an arrow over the door as a sign of friendship.

            Bruchac is an insider author. He has origins in the Abenaki Indian tribe.  He has written many other pieces of children’s literature and is a noted Native American author.  He has used his background to displace stereotypes and create a quality piece of multicultural literature in The Arrow Over the Door.   Bruchac informs the reader through his author’s note at the end of the book about the research he had done in order to write this story. He made sure to leave out stereotypes of the Indians having cruel faces or being described as savage and warlike.  Although Bruchac does leave these stereotypes out he still includes some feelings of dislike about the Indians from the viewpoint of characters like Tom Watt. Tom says he is afraid to be scalped by the Indians.  Lines like these would need to be discussed in class showing that this could be a valid fear from certain viewpoints but is also a stereotype of Indians.  Making sure the students see both sides of history, like most of the book presents with alternating chapters from Samuel and Stands Straight, would be very important while using or suggesting this book.