Typee

Herman Melville's 1846 novel Typee was the author's breakout work, and was loosely adapted from his own experiences in French Polynesian culture. The protagonist, Tommo, is a sailor who dreams of...

In Typee, Herman Melville rejects Calvinism's moral pessimism as the narrator who renames himself Tommo, along with his friend Toby discover that the natives have an inherent sense of right and...

When Toby and Tommo (as the natives call him) first arrive on the island inhabited by the Typees they find an Edenic paradise replete with lush foliage, fruit trees, and balmy weather. When the...

Reading between the lines, we an gather that Tom appreciated the way in which having skills that the people of Typee lacked made him more valuable. It's likely that part of the reason he valued...

The islanders in Typee use very few items of European origin, though it is perhaps not a matter of choice, as they have not had access to many. They have a few cotton cloths and handkerchieves,...

Typee is an fictionalized account of Melville's real-life experience living in the Typee valley of the Marquesas Islands in 1842. The book is partly based on real events that happened to Melville...

The most basic similarity between Hank and Tommo in their respective novels is that they both treat the indigenous people they meet with contempt. Hank is very condescending towards medieval...

Tommo's understanding of women is at first based on conventional Western attitudes toward female beauty. Fayaway, for example, is described in comparison to White women—Tommo can "almost swear"...

The answer to why Tom, called Tommo by the Typees, and Toby remained wary among the Typee despite being treated with great favor and kindness by them lies in Chapters 10 through 13. These recount...

After initially enjoying the company of the Typee in their island paradise, Tommo’s now keen to get away, and as soon as possible. Not long after he fetched up on the island, Tommo formed the...