# VII: The Big Red Apples explained — American Indian Stories > Chapter companion for American Indian Stories by Zitkála-Šá. ## What happens At eight years old, the narrator learns of missionaries who have come to take Indian children to the East. Despite her mother's warnings that the white men's words are sweet but their deeds bitter, the narrator is enticed by tales of big red apples and a ride on the iron horse. After a night of pleading with the Great Spirit, her mother reluctantly agrees to let her go, believing education is necessary for her future. The narrator leaves with the missionaries, feeling regret and fear as she parts from her mother and enters a strange, massive brick building. ## Themes in this chapter ### Cultural Displacement and Assimilation The missionaries' promise of education and red apples represents the allure of assimilation, while the mother's warning about 'bitter deeds' highlights the cost of leaving one's culture. ### Motherhood and Family Bonds The mother's reluctant decision to let her daughter go, despite her fears, underscores the deep bond and sacrifice inherent in motherhood. ### Education as a Tool of Oppression The mother acknowledges that education is a 'tardy justice' for stolen lands, but knows her daughter will 'suffer keenly' in the experiment, revealing education's dual role as both opportunity and oppression. ## Character check-ins ### Mother The narrator's mother, who initially discourages her from going with the missionaries but ultimately agrees, believing education is necessary for her daughter's future. ### Judéwin The narrator's playmate who tells her wonderful stories about the missionaries and the East, including the promise of red apples. ### Dawée The narrator's older brother, who returned from a three-year education in the East and influences the mother's decision to let the narrator go. ### The Great Spirit The narrator prays to the Great Spirit to make her mother willing to let her go with the missionaries. ## Key lines > Their words are sweet, but, my child, their deeds are bitter. The missionaries speak kindly, but their actions will cause you pain. _Mother warns the narrator not to trust the missionaries' promises._ > The palefaces, who owe us a large debt for stolen lands, have begun to pay a tardy justice in offering some education to our children. The white people, who have taken our land, are now belatedly offering education as a form of repayment. _Mother acknowledges the historical injustice of land theft and sees education as a partial, though insufficient, compensation._ > I was as frightened and bewildered as the captured young of a wild creature. I felt the same terror and confusion as a wild animal that has been trapped. _The narrator compares her fear upon entering the boarding school to that of a captured animal._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/american_indian_stories_se/chapters/vii-the-big-red-apples - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/american_indian_stories_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/american_indian_stories_se/chapters