Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life

Typee is a novel about colonialism. Tommo, the narrator, is an American aboard a European ship that is sailing around the South Pacific. At each island they encounter, Europeans have already arrived. Trading posts have been set up, and the items have been claimed in the name of European countries, even though people are already living on the islands. As Tommo notes, this practice has already caused much death and suffering. Tommo criticizes the colonialist practices of France and Britain, though many of these critiques concern the methodology rather than the practice of colonialism. As a sailor, even on a whaling vessel, Tommo is deeply immersed in the system of colonial enterprise, and colonial views are ingrained in him. His ship trades with the locals, as well as the other colonialists in the area, helping reinforce the colonialist dynamic of material exchange. In addition, Tommo’s preconceptions about communities such as the Typees suggest that he has accepted many of the racist stereotypes about South Pacific and Polynesian peoples. When he first hears of the Typees, for example, he assumes that they are brutal cannibals who will kill him on sight. This colonialist stereotype is self-justifying, granting the Europeans the assumed right to rule over people they describe as violent heathens.