Herge Criticises the American Way
4 February 2012
This is not really my favourite Tintin story, though it is only the third one ever written. The story appears to be set immediately after Tintin in the Congo and it is suggested (it has been a long time since I read a Tintin in the Congo, if I ever actually read it in English so I can only garner from what was said about it at the beginning of this story) that Tintin busted a diamond smuggling ring in the Congo and then travelled to the United States to clean up the rest of the mess.
The story is actually a rather silly story in that he arrives in Chigaco, gets into trouble with the mob, escapes from an inescapeable situation, gets them arrested and then gets into trouble with some more crooks. Some have said that Herge's view of the United States is that it is full of cities ruled by crime lords, and when you step out of the city you immediately step into the wild west. It also seems that upon arriving in the United States, Tintin immediately solves all of their problems, and leaves a hero.
Well, he does not necessarily solve all their problems, and when originally released there were some quite controversial aspects too it. One involves Negros, and the other involves the Native Americans. Firstly, the English editions that we now have have been heavily modified in that all references to Negros have been taken out. There is a scene page 34 where the bank owner comes in to find that the bank had been robbed, and states that the hanged a few fella's right away, but were still chasing the culprits. The original indicated clearly that Negro's were hanged, but it is also suggestive of the vigilante justice of the wild west where a crime can be an excuse to simply kill people that are not liked. However we then follow the lynch mob who have already determined guilt, despite Tintin being innocent (and they also attempt to lynch him). It is not a pleasant picture of rural America.
The details of the Indians are not as bad, though they are portrayed as gullible and easy to be mislead by the bad guy (Bobby Smiles), though this is not necessarily an Indian thing. There was a scene where Tintin passes an Indian beggar, but that was removed in later versions. However the most condemning part is where Tintin stumbles across an oil well and within minutes is surrounded by businessmen offering hundreds of thousands of dollars for the find. However Tintin, ever the noble and honest character, tells that that the land belongs to the Indians. So, as can be expected, they offer the Indians $25.00 and half-an-hour to leave. When the Indians tell them where to shove their deal, in comes the army. The sad aspect is that this is still the image of the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave today. To a white man much is offered, but to the others, what they have is taken by force if they cannot scam it out of them.
In the end not the best of the Tintin stories, and we note that Herge is a little critical, however not to the extent of his previous two stories. There are allegations of him being involved with the Nazi's, but the publishing of this book pre-dates Hitler's rise to power. In another sense, it shows Herge moving away from the colonialist writings of Tintin in the Congo, or the conservative propaganda of Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (not that he was necessarily wrong about the actions of the Soviets at that time) and we begin to see a more noble and honourable Tintin, one who refuses to take bribes, and will stand up against criminals.