The Forgotten

Right away in Herge’s The Adventures of Tintin: Tintin in the Congo, when Tintin got off the ship that landed in Africa on page nine, everyone there warmly welcomed him. And since this comic dates back in 1930, the process of forgetting about what happened in Congo had already begun. Compare to what was read in A. Hochschild’s book King’s Leopold’s Ghost, the natives of Congo would be afraid if whites or Europeans were to go to the Congo during the time of King Leopold’s rule. And then you have the young African boy name Coco, at page 11, he humanized and was called a boy, when back in King Leopold’s rule a boy like Coco would be known as a porter. These children were put to work hauling heavy items for the Europeans who come ashore. Also at one point from pages 15-16 Tintin was hunting a deer and when he finally “kills” the deer he realizes that he killed more than just one, which to me emphasized the unnecessary killings that occurred during King Leopold’s regime of the natives that were living in the land of the Congo. Though the killings were used to show Belgian’s rule over the Congo things could have probably been done differently to avoid such mass murders that occurred. Then during the scene from page 17-18 with the gorilla, Tintin kills a gorilla for its skin so that he can disguise himself to rescue Snowy shows symbolism of taking back what was promised. Tintin had traded his hat for Snowy and then when the gorilla wanted the gun Tintin refused and took back the hat as well. This was almost as if when we learned from Hochschild on how King Leopold went back on his words or never completely follow through with what he had promised the bigger powers such as United States, France, and German when they allowed him to claim the Congo. Another sign of forgetting what actually happened in the Congo as seen in the comic was when Tintin was treated as royalty everywhere he went. All the natives there looked to him as if he was someone of importance while he was just a reporter. They gave him the respect as if he earned in, which in the comic he does, but if this occurred back in King Leopold’s time someone like Tintin wouldn’t be treated this well. He would actually be feared at first and would have a small army with him to make sure nothing happens and keep the natives in check. But in the comic he is only accompanied by Snowy and Coco making it seem safe for a white man to travel alone in an unknown territory and all the natives there will treat them like royalty. There were a lot of little details that were included in the comic that happened in the past. Such details include Tintin killing an elephant for its tusks, cutting from the rubber tree, and missionaries in the Congo offering help and teaching the natives. These might seem like the normal occurrences but in the past there was a lot of bloodshed involved. It was like what was mentioned in by Marchal in Hochschild’s book about the difference between collecting rubber now and then, “The corporal, he said to me, ‘The rubber this time, that was nothing. But the first time that was terrible.’” (Hochschild, 299).

It wasn’t just in the comic that told us how everyone was slowly forgetting about the tragic events that happened in the Congo. Hochschild mentioned how before King Leopold was taken off the throne all the records and paperwork ever about the Congo burned for eight days straight. King Leopold was compared to how Stalin and Hitler left a bigger paper trail behind and at least was able to know what horrible things they did. Even thought we know about it now it took a lot of digging by historians and archeologists to piece together what happened in the Congo. And those who were able to make it back to Europe after getting hands on their hand were able to forget the horrible things they did by victimizing themselves. They changed the way they thought about what happened and made themselves the victims so it was easier for them to forget all the killings they had done. And what helped take the heat off of Belgium was when Germany attacked them. They used the same story about cutting off hands and feet from babies and children to make them seem even more in trouble. While none of this was occurred in Belgium it helped others believe that when it was said the same thing happened in the Congo, it makes it less true in people eyes.

Work Cited

Hergé. The Adventures of Tintin: Tintin in the Congo. Egmont: Copenhagen, 2005 [1930]

Hochschild, Adam. King Leopold’s Ghost. Mariner Books