The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
"The Indian in the Cupboard," written by Lynne Reid Banks, is a children's fantasy novel that centers on a preadolescent boy named Omri who discovers the magical ability to bring toy figures to life. Among his birthday gifts, he finds a cupboard and a plastic toy Indian, which he inadvertently transforms into a living being named Little Bear, an Iroquois brave from the eighteenth century. The narrative explores the developing friendship between Omri and Little Bear, highlighting the challenges they face in establishing a culturally relevant environment for Little Bear while also navigating the complexities of their relationship.
As the story unfolds, Omri introduces a toy cowboy named Boone into the mix, further complicating their interactions. The book addresses themes of friendship, responsibility, and the difficulties of bridging different cultural contexts. Omri eventually realizes that controlling the situation has become too burdensome, leading to a poignant climax where he must bid farewell to his newfound friends. This imaginative tale, rich with elements of time travel and size differences, draws on longstanding literary traditions and is celebrated for its exploration of human relationships, making it a classic in children's fantasy literature.
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Subject Terms
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
First published: 1980; illustrated
Type of work: Fantasy
Themes: Friendship, and race and ethnicity
Time of work: The late twentieth century
Recommended Ages: 10-13
Locale: England
Principal Characters:
Omri , a young boy, who is intelligent and sensitivePatrick , his friend, who enjoys taking risksLittle Bear , an Iroquois brave, transmitted by the magical cupboard to the twentieth centuryBoone , an Old West cowboy, who unwillingly becomes Little Bear’s companionTommy , A World War I medic, who has a strong sense of duty
The Story
Omri is a preadolescent boy who receives, among his birthday gifts, a metal-shelved cupboard found in an alley and a plastic toy Indian. When Omri incidentally locks the toy Indian inside the cupboard, he is astounded upon opening it to find that the Indian is now alive. In this fast-paced children’s story, the focus is not on the magic of transformation but on the special relationship that develops between Omri and the Indian, an eighteenth century Iroquois brave named Little Bear.
Very quickly, Omri learns that Little Bear has basic needs of food and shelter that must be met. Omri is able to solve these minor logistical problems much easier than meeting Little Bear’s more absorbing need of establishing a culturally identifiable environment. Omri is soon searching for materials so that Little Bear can construct and decorate his longhouse, because Iroquois do not live in tepees.
Little Bear’s quest for space beyond the confines of Omri’s bedroom leads to an adventure out of doors, where Little Bear is injured by the horse Omri has transformed from plastic. In desperation, Omri places a plastic soldier-medic inside the cabinet; this plastic figure becomes Tommy, who until that moment had been serving the medical needs of World War I British soldiers. Tommy, despite being convinced that he is dreaming, patches up the injured Little Bear and, via the cabinet, is returned to the trenches.
Omri finds it less difficult to keep Little Bear’s existence a secret from his family than from his best friend, Patrick, and eventually gives in to the temptation of sharing this astonishing experience with him. Patrick, predictably, wants a miniature playmate of his own and transforms a toy cowboy into Boone, a real live cowboy from the Old West. Little Bear and Boone’s early encounters are not agreeable ones, but over time, an uneasy truce gives way to friendship.
Little Bear and Boone are carried by Omri and Patrick to school, where an altercation between the boys lands all four in the principal’s office. There, under some pressure, Patrick shows Boone to the principal. The secret remains safe, however, because the principal cannot believe his own eyes and concludes that he should go home to recuperate from overwork. This humorous episode is followed by a whimsical one in which Omri presents Boone’s exquisite miniature etchings as his own to the astonishment of his art teacher.
One of the final adventures in the book includes Little Bear’s underfloor search for the cabinet key, in which he encounters Omri’s brother’s pet rat. Omri also grants Little Bear’s wish of having a female companion; another plastic Indian is transformed into the beautiful Bright Eyes. By this time, Omri has faced the fact that matters have gotten too complicated to control. He persuades Little Bear and Boone to return to their own times and places. The climax of the book is reached when Little Bear with his bride-to-be and Boone all enter the cabinet, bid farewell to Omri, and, with a turn of the key, once again become plastic figures. Omri is left with these toys and the cabinet, and the reader is left with the feeling that Omri may one day recall his friends for a visit.
Context
Lynne Reid Banks, an accomplished writer of adult fiction, has made a successful transition to children’s literature with The Indian in the Cupboard. This story draws from the long tradition in British lore and literature dealing with little folk. The problems with big people and animals that Little Bear and Boone encounter are suggestive of those faced by the Clock family in Mary Norton’s The Borrowers (1953).
Another convention Banks uses is that of time travel, a popular and accepted literary device for works of fantasy. Like Nellie Jack John in William Mayne’s Earth- fasts (1967), who surfaces from the eighteenth century, Banks’s characters find their sudden appearances in the twentieth century difficult to understand and invoke rationalizations ranging from the work of the Great Spirit, to a dream, or to the effects of alcohol.
By combining and extending the fantastic structures of size differences and time travel, Banks has produced a most original story. The transformed characters must contend not only with the late twentieth century but also with the variety of time periods each character represents. So, a World War I medic treats the injuries of a nineteenth century cowboy aided by an eighteenth century Iroquois and learns that a powerful new drug called penicillin will save the lives of soldiers fighting in future wars. The Indian in the Cupboard is a unique and marvelous tale of human relationships, which justifiably takes its place among the classics of fantasy literature for children.