Of Cannibals by Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
"Of Cannibals" is an essay by Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, written during a period of exploration and cultural exchange in the late 16th century. In this work, Montaigne reflects on encounters with a tribe of cannibals from Brazil, challenging the prevailing Eurocentric views of civilization and morality. Through his observations, he presents an image of the cannibals that contrasts sharply with European norms, suggesting that they live in harmony with nature, possess a straightforward ethical code, and lack vices such as greed and dishonesty. Montaigne argues that while their practices, including cannibalism for revenge, may appear savage, the true barbarism lies in European behaviors, particularly those committed in the name of religion. He emphasizes the dignity, intelligence, and nobility of the so-called "noble savage," prompting readers to reflect on their own societal values and behavior. Ultimately, Montaigne's essay serves as a thought-provoking critique of cultural superiority, inviting an examination of the differences between civilizations and the definitions of savagery and civilization.
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Subject Terms
Of Cannibals by Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: “Des cannibales,” 1580 (collected in Complete Works: Essays, Travel Journal, Letters, 1957
Type of work: Essay
The Work
Montaigne’s age was one of adventure and exploration, and many travelers returned to Europe with tales of strange and fascinating people elsewhere. During a French expedition to South America in 1557, the explorer Villegaignon encountered a tribe of cannibals in what was then called “Antarctic France” but what is now called Brazil. Some of them returned with the crew. Montaigne not only met one of these cannibals at Rouen in 1562 but also employed a servant who had spent a dozen years living among them in their native land.
From this firsthand knowledge, Montaigne in “Of Cannibals” reverses the egocentric European belief in the superiority of Western culture. Not simple, ignorant, and barbarous as some would insist, cannibals live in harmony with nature, employ useful and virtuous skills, and enjoy a perfect religious life and governmental system. Instead, it is the European who has bastardized nature and her works, while the so-called savage lives in a state of purity. Much like American author Herman Melville, who later chronicled his life among the cannibals in Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life (1846), Montaigne sees more barbarous behavior among his immediate neighbors.
As evidence, Montaigne cites everything from language usage to architecture. The cannibals have, he says, no words for lying, treachery, dissimulation, avarice, envy, and other vices. They have no slaves, no distinctions between rich and poor, and no mania for owning things. They live in a land of plenty, eat only one meal a day, and spend the whole day dancing. Their religious and ethical beliefs are admirably simple. They believe in the immortality of the soul, in a kind of heaven and hell, and in divine prophecy. They have, in fact, tribal prophets who, if they fail to prophesy correctly, are immediately put to the sword, a swift justice that Montaigne does not condemn, for false prophets should be severely punished. As for their priests, they daily preach only two virtues: love and courage.
In wars with nations beyond their territory, the cannibals know neither fear nor cowardice even though their battles often end in bloodshed. Each man brings back the head of an enemy as a trophy and hangs it over the entrance of his dwelling. The enemy prisoners brought back are slain and eaten, not for nourishment but for revenge. Such behavior has earned for them the name “savages,” but Montaigne sees more savagery in the European practices of torturing or burning alive—and, what is worse, doing it in the name of religion. While the cannibals clearly violate rules of reasonable behavior, Montaigne concludes, the Europeans surpass them in every kind of barbarity and cruelty.
There is little doubt that Montaigne romanticizes “the noble savage” in his essay, as authors were to do for centuries afterward, but he is one of the first great thinkers to question the Eurocentric view of human behavior, the notion that the standard for human behavior is white, Christian, and European. While it is doubtless true that he idealizes the life of Brazilian tribal peoples, nonetheless he sees the dignity, nobility, intelligence, and harmony of their lives. He forces the readers to confront themselves and their own social behavior; as Montaigne notes, there is such a distance in character between the cannibals and his audience that either the cannibals are savages or his readers are. Montaigne tries hard throughout his essay to find fault with the cannibals’ behavior and way of life but can offer only one, slightly humorous, observation: They do not wear trousers.
Bibliography
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