Little Big Man | Topics for Discussion & Projects

Little Big Man Key Questions

Some of the possibilities here are obvious. Readers can focus on Berger's seriocomic view of the West and his depiction of the culture of the Cheyennes. Readers interested in Indian life may want to turn to George Bird Grinnell's classic works, The Fighting Cheyennes (1915) and The Cheyenne Indians (1923) for further insights into Cheyenne tribal life. It is worth noting that Berger (in his interview with David Madden in Critical Essays on Thomas Berger) has identified Grinnell as his main source. Perhaps most interesting, besides Berger's portrait of Indian life, are his portraits of General Custer and Wild Bill Hickok. It should be noted that while both characters are seen through Jack Crabb's ironic point of view, they are not merely caricatures of comic targets (although the Penn film version of Little Big Man tends to treat Custer as largely comic).

Readers may want to compare the...
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