“I kept asking myself if I felt different, if I was different. The answer was always yes. I was no longer nothing. I had become two people—Lord Furnival’s son...and Crispin. How odd, I thought: it had taken my mother’s death, Father Quinel’s murder, and the desire of others to kill me for me to claim a life of my own” (252). This is a quote from Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi, and it describes the story very well. A 13-year-old boy, shunned in the only place he has ever known, forced to leave for his own safety, and given the choice that could make or break his peers lives. Asta’s son, Crispin, lives a shunned and imprisoned life as a serf, but he discovers that his true identity is found through secrets revealed, friendships offered, and …show more content…
This being said means that his father, mother, and class were all a scam, a filthy lie. Crispin had been through so much, but even through this he didn’t find his true self until the very end of the story. No matter what happened in his past even in the future his companions invariably lied and kept secrets from him, such as, Bear keeping what the writing said on the cross of lead. Although many things happened, the most baffling thing was that even the fact that his name was Crispin was held as a secret. When the secret on the cross of him being Lord Furnival’s son was told by Widow Daventry, she told him, “Crispin," she said. "whatever noble blood there is in you, is only… poison. Lady Furnival, who's the power here, will never let you have the name. She'll look on you as her enemy, knowing that anyone who chooses to oppose her will use you and what you are" ( Even though all of these secrets caused pain, they also shaped Crispin’s identity and helped him discover …show more content…
Father Quinel is his only ‘friend’ in the village, and even his mom has a love because he is her son and also disgust towards Crispin because of him looking like Lord Furnival. This only friend that he has is then murdered and Crispin is then blamed for it. While trying to get out of the village he comes across another village, eventually leading him to Bear, also known as Orson Hrothgar. He starts off his relationship with Bear as simply master and slave. This later becomes teacher and student. He and bear are then friends and as they journey and trust each other they get so close it is as if they are father and son. When Bear is captured by John Aycliffe but Crispin comes to save him Bear tells Crispin, “Crispin...I do love you like a son. Did...did I betray you?” (283). This type of relationship is new to Crispin, and he gains confidence in himself due to Bear and his