Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Sign of the Beaver, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Survival and Indigenous Knowledge
Colonialism, Land Rights, and Entitlement
Nature
Friendship and Respect
Coming of Age and Manhood
Summary
Analysis
The next day, when Attean arrives, Matt begs to continue with Robinson Crusoe. Lying, he says that after Crusoe names the man Friday, they become companions who do everything together. Friday isn’t enslaved. Thankfully, Matt knows the book well enough that he can skip or edit parts that would offend Attean, such as that the first English word Crusoe teaches Friday is “master.” And Crusoe and Friday really go on lots of adventures together, though it’d be nice if Friday were more intelligent. A native of the island like Friday certainly could’ve taught Crusoe something.
Matt understands, on some level, that Robinson Crusoe is not the ideal book to read to Attean because of the racist way it portrays Native peoples. But while this represents some enlightenment for Matt, Matt still isn’t very critical of the book—he seems to miss, for instance, that Crusoe names the Native man Friday, when Friday certainly had his own name that Crusoe didn’t bother to ask for. Still, it represents progress that Matt realizes Friday could’ve taught Crusoe skills, as this suggests that Matt recognizes and respects that Attean has something to teach him.
Themes
When Matt finishes reading, Attean surprises him by inviting him to go fish. Matt happily grabs his fishing pole and follows Attean through the woods. They don’t seem to be following a path. Finally, they reach a shallow part of the creek. Attean breaks off a sapling and shaves one end into a point. He steps into the creek and suddenly spears a fish. Deeming the fish too small, Attean whispers something to it and tries again. This fish is big enough. He then hands Matt the spear to try himself. Matt tries twice before losing his footing and tumbling into the water. Attean is grinning a “horrid grin” when Matt surfaces, and Matt is certain Attean is just trying to humiliate Matt and make it clear that Matt is no Robinson Crusoe.
Once again, Attean shows Matt that he doesn’t have to rely on the way he’s always done things—the woods can, in fact, provide sustainable, always-available methods for fishing, in this case. But while Matt is game to try fishing with a spear at first, it’s telling that when he slips, his first thought is that Attean is trying to humiliate him. Attean may very well be trying to show Matt up and make a point. But that Matt leaps to this conclusion shows that on some level, Matt still sees Attean and Native people as his adversaries.
Themes
Scowling, Matt snatches up his fishing pole, finds a worm for bait, and says he’ll fish his way. He soon feels a big fish tugging on the line—but the line snaps. The fish gets away, taking Matt’s only fishing hook with it. Matt is devastated to lose his only fishhook, but Attean observes what happened and says that Matt can simply make another hook. He breaks a twig off a sapling, carves a groove in the middle, and whittles the ends into points. With it, Matt successfully catches a fish. But the fish totally swallowed the makeshift hook, and the hook is broken when Matt cuts it out of the fish. Seeing Matt’s face, Attean says Matt can just make more. Matt wonders why Attean keeps teaching him these skills, though he has to admit that Attean is right: they don’t have to rely on “white man’s tools.”
Matt is devastated when his line breaks because that fishhook represented his only way to get meat, since he doesn’t have his father’s rifle anymore. However, Attean again shows Matt that Matt doesn’t have to rely on manufactured tools like metal fishhooks—the forest has everything Matt needs to survive, if Matt knows where to look and how to use it. Attean’s reasoning for sharing these skills with Matt is something of a mystery. But no matter his reason, it suggests that Attean isn’t as cruel as Matt thinks he is—at the very least, he doesn’t want Matt to starve.
Themes
Matt is suddenly very hungry, but it’ll be a long hike back to the cabin to cook the fish. Attean seems to have the same thought, and he starts a fire with a stone from his pouch. Matt has started fires before, but he didn’t know he could use any stone and not just his flint. Attean orders Matt to butcher the fish, which Matt doesn’t appreciate, but he complies anyway. Attean then skewers the fish so the boys can cook them. When they’re finished eating, Matt says it was the best fish he’s had. He then asks Attean what he said to the fish earlier. Attean says he told the fish not to tell its friends, which seems like a really strange thing to Matt. Still, Matt observes that it seems to work, which makes Attean smile.
Once again, Attean shows Matt that he doesn’t have to rely on his cabin or European methods to feed himself. It’s possible to start fires with any stone that has enough silica in it, like jasper, obsidian, or quartz, which means that Matt doesn’t have to walk all the way back to the cabin for his dedicated fire-starting flint. When Matt butchers the fish without arguing, and when he then accepts Attean’s explanation of what he said to the fish, it highlights that he is developing respect for Attean. Attean is still a mystery in many ways, but Matt respects Attean for what Attean has to teach him.
Themes
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