one point blows a rhino to pieces with dynamite.
Island, for their friendly outlook towards the USA
Hergé later regretted these excesses as “sins of his
and Britain. His rejection of Fascist values is clear
youth” – he was still in his early twenties when he
from King Ottakar’s Sceptre, made in response to
produced it. He was very much under the sway of
the German annexation of Austria. Strangely, the
the political outlook of his paper, and at that time, in
Germans did not ban this book, failing to see the
1930, such attitudes were common. Hergé later
explicit satire of their leader in the dictator
revised this book to tone down some of the worst
Müsstler.
elements. Yet it is still sold today with a label
warning of the outmoded attitudes it contains.
In Hergé’s defence, some argue that he showed
greater courage by returning to Belgium after the
invasion, than by fleeing. During the occupation, he
refused the advances made to him by a pro-Nazi
Belgian group to join their party. The offer could
have worked to his advantage under the occupying
regime if he accepted. He also refused the Gestapo's
offer to become an informant, placing himself in
considerable danger. His brother Paul was an officer
in the Belgian army who fought for the resistance,
and was wanted by the Germans. This led to Hergé
being questioned by the Gestapo in 1943. Another
narrow escape. During his time at Le Soir he was
driven by the desire to continue his work, to
continue the adventurous life of Tintin, and to
Tintin in the Congo
entertain the many readers who had come to love
him. Hergé never gave explicit support for the
In his next book, Tintin in America, he showed
greater sympathy for the plight of the Native
Americans who had their land stolen from them. He
would continue to develop his sensibilities through
later works – and his portrayal of the African
pilgrims kidnapped as slaves in The Red Sea
Sharks is a marked contrast to his treatment of
Africans in the Congo book. Seen as a whole, his
body of work does not show a pro-Fascist leaning.
In fact, two of his earlier books were banned by the
Nazi occupiers – Tintin in America and The Black
Germans, he attempted to remain neutral. But was
neutrality defensible at such a time?
One of his books produced during the
occupation gives special difficulty for Hergé’s
defenders: The Shooting Star. On the surface, this
is a thrilling science-fiction adventure that has
remained one of the most popular with readers. Yet
a closer look reveals some disturbing aspects. All of
the scientists who set out in search of the fallen
meteor come from neutral, axis, or occupied
countries – France, Belgium, Germany, Spain,