What is the theme in The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter?

Virtue is another theme in the story. Much discussion in this novel centers on who is virtuous and who is evil or savage. The Indians view the whites as intrusive and murderous, while the whites view the Indians as wild, pagan and violent. The whites do not recognize the Indian religion, which honors the Great Spirit, as a true religion; likewise, the Indians believe the whites to be foolish in their religious pursuits because the Christian religion calls for indoor worship and says nothing about the divinity of nature. The only thing the two societies seem to have in common is that neither believes that the other's behavior is in keeping with their respective philosophies of being kind and respecting living things.