In "The Clue in the Painting," we see the effects that one society can have on a vastly different one. We also see the differences in cultures, along with the problems that can occur when these cultures are allowed, or in the case of Pigeon’s Egg Head, are forced upon one another. Pigeon’s Egg Head came from a society that valued tradition and honor. By succumbing so quickly to the temptations and vices of another culture, one that was so alien to his own, he sentenced himself to a shunning by his people, and ultimately to his demise.
We learn early on that Pigeon’s Egg Head was an honored man in his tribe. He was the son of the chief, which would automatically give him some precedence. More importantly, though, he is a warrior, seen as brave and valiant by his people. They respect him for what he has done, and he takes pride himself in his accomplishments. He wears the scalps of his enemies, and when he is being painted, he wears his native costume proudly. The eagle plumed headdress, his quiver and bow, and his shield all show signs of his deep rooted heritage and the traditions that went with it. These were traditions that he was raised on, and a heritage he had known his whole life.
The change that overcomes him in Washington and on his trip is almost unbelievable. To think that such a proud, strong person could be so easily persuaded to take up another style of life is indeed a strange thought. However, this is mainly because it is so hard to imagine the kind of cultural shock that must have gone along with the experience. To go from the life of a tribe, which would have been small and very member oriented, to the life of a city larger than anything he had ever before seen, or even imagined, would have been enough to send anyone into a state of amazement and probably deep curiosity. To not only see how these different people, these Americans, lived, but to be able to experience it would have been a hard temptation to turn away.
And there would have been no reason to turn away from it. Pigeon’s Egg Head could not have known what it would do to him. The dress of an American military man, with fancy accessories with no other reason behind them than because they looked good, these were fascinating things to him. He wouldn’t truly understand the vices, and the consequences of these vices, of the American man. The hundreds of houses, steamboats, guns and forts- coming from his own native tribe these things would have been like magic to him, and he would have been overwhelmed. They were as foreign to him as the traditions of the various Indian tribes were to the Europeans in general: "he came to regard the Indians- so essential to the defense of New France- as mere savages." [1]
As all these things were like magic to him, they were like magic to the people of his tribe, as well. He came back from Washington practically unrecognizable. Like a child imitating a nobleman, he strutted in his fancy clothes, but he did not understand the significance behind anything he had picked up. In addition, the stories he had to tell were no more than fairy tales to those who had never seen them. Giant forts, and houses so numerous it was futile to count them, it seemed like lies to those who had lived the simpler life that Pigeon’s Egg Head had himself so shortly before.
These things were too good to be true, and so Pigeon’s Egg Head must have been corrupted by the lies of the American man. And in a way, he had been, though not how his people imagined. The culture shock of such a different society took its toll on him. While he was not lying, he did not truly comprehend what he was saying. Instead, Pigeon’s Egg Head was living in his own fantasy version of the American world. The things he told his people were not lies, but the way he imagined American life to be was a lie. Like his own culture, though in far different ways, the American culture had its own heritage and history that needed to be comprehended before it could be jumped into like Pigeon’s Egg Head did.
In the end, he doomed himself by throwing away his own culture in place of someone else’s, a culture he was fascinated with but did not understand. He was not totally at fault, as it would have been too much for almost anyone in his situation, however it was a clash of societies that were just so different that any chance of mingling would have been hard to attain.
Works Cited:
[1] Goldfield, David, Carl Abbott, Virginia D. Anderson, Jo Ann E. Argersinger, Peter H. Argersinger, William L. Barney, and Robert M. Weir. The American Journey. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2006. 114.
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