Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life

In the opening chapters of Typee, the narrator does not reveal his name. He narrates from a first-person perspective, retelling events as he experienced them and talking as if addressing an audience. The lack of a formal introduction emphasizes the personal nature of his story; Tommo is directly conveying his experiences, so he does not feel compelled to introduce himself. His personal narration self-consciously distinguishes him from other storytellers. Many exploitative, lurid stories exist about the cannibals of the South Pacific, he claims, but he wants to counter these exaggerations by sharing his own experiences. His story is personal, not only in that these events happened to him but in that he is telling this story for a reason. Tommo (like Herman Melville himself) knows the truth about the South Pacific and its people, and his objective is to provide a more insightful, more accurate, and more nuanced counterpoint to the wild and violent stories. Tommo has already revealed the end of the story: He eventually leaves the Typee people and the island. What he experiences with the Typees and how he escapes become the focus, rather than the fate of just one individual.