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
Now, when Matt goes into the woods, he looks for Native American signs. He can’t always tell if he’s seeing trail markers or signs of animal activity, but he does sometimes find the sign of the beaver. It’s a fun game to him—but he doesn’t understand that it’s not a game for Attean. One day, the boys hear frantic scratching in the woods. They find a crouching fox, and Attean pushes leaves aside with a stick to reveal an iron trap around the animal’s leg. Attean explains that it’s a white man’s trap and that these traps are bad—but this one is hidden well, suggesting a Native American set it. Whoever set the trap is working for a white man.
That Matt thinks of trail markers and clan signs as a fun game highlights how different he is from Attean. As a white boy who on occasion played games pretending he’s a Native American, Matt idealizes (and looks down on) their way of life. When they find the fox, Attean makes it clear to Matt that none of this is ideal, and it’s actually extremely serious. Further, Attean begins to introduce Matt to the idea that settlers’ tools, like the iron traps, are harmful. The fox’s state shows Matt clearly that the traps are, at the very least, cruel and cause undue suffering.
Themes
Matt says it’s a good thing they found the fox first, but Attean says they can’t kill it or save it—this is the turtle clan’s land, as there’s a turtle carved into a tree. The fox can get away, Attean says, by biting off its foot—it has three others and will be fine. Matt is very uncomfortable with this. He feels for the fox, as it’s so defiant and brave to hurt itself just to gain freedom. Matt mutters that trapping this way is cruel, and Attean agrees—Saknis won’t let the beaver people buy iron traps. There used to be enough beavers and moose for Native people and white men, but white men want pelts, not just meat to eat. So they hire Native men to trap for them using white men’s traps.
Attean shows Matt again that the clan signs on trees aren’t child’s play. They mean something—in this case, they convey ownership and tell outsiders to keep away, much like a locked door or a fence might. Then, Attean begins to introduce Matt to the idea that the indigenous survival methods he’s teaching Matt are useful in some situations. However, the culture is changing due to settlers’ arrival, and it’s no longer enough for the tribes to just survive in the wilderness. In order to thrive and become economically stable, the Native people must embrace settlers’ culture and methods. This is then devastating for the wildlife as well, as steel traps are causing entire species to disappear.
Themes
Matt doesn’t understand this and becomes upset. What kind of moral code leaves animals to suffer? And Attean is so pretentious and scornful of white men. On one hand, Matt never wants to see Attean again. But on the other, he wants to impress Attean and earn his respect. He daydreams at night about heroically saving Attean from various animals or antagonists, but Matt knows this is silly. He’ll never be a hero, and Attean only keeps coming because Saknis makes him. Matt doesn’t understand why Saknis took pity on him, though he understands why Saknis wants Attean to learn to read—and he suspects that if Saknis knew how much Attean was teaching Matt, he’d make Attean stop coming.
In this passage, Matt reveals his youth and innocence—and his privilege. Matt admires Attean and the indigenous way of life that Attean is introducing him to, but this doesn’t mean that Matt necessarily agrees that it’s better for people or the environment than settlers’ habits. Essentially, Matt resents Attean’s insistence that Matt and other settlers like him are part of the problem. But he also greatly values Attean’s teaching and knows he’s learning lots of important things.
Themes
Attean teaches Matt something new every day, and he continues to resist learning to read. Still, Attean’s spoken English improves, and he begins using English expressions like “[r]eckon so” and “by golly.” Matt tries out words from Attean’s language in return, which he knows Attean appreciates and also finds humorous. Maybe this means the reading lessons aren’t a waste of time after all.
Here, Matt makes the case that even though Attean isn’t showing signs that he’ll be able to understand a written treaty anytime soon, there are still positive things happening as a result of the reading lessons. That is, Matt and Attean are becoming friends and learning to enjoy and trust each other, which is in itself valuable and fulfilling.
Themes
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