Herman Melville's Typee

Typee by Herman Melville explores the anxious terrors constantly on the horizon by using a tribe of cannibals that strangely act in a very hospitable way. The Typee tribe, not to be confused with their “friendly counterpart” of the Happar tribe take in the narrator named Tom and his shipmate Toby. The stranded men hold prejudice against the cannibals but after living amongst them Melville allowed the men to hold a new perspective in the same way that Melville himself saw the world. Herman Melville uses symbolism, antithesis, irony, and allusion to show how prejudice and mere perspective are preventing different societies from understanding and learning from one another. Food has a major overarching presence in Typee because right from the
The tribe are at a point in their civilization where women sell themselves to passing by sailors for clothes, yet countries who have abundant resources still have poverty and war. Melville however did not participate in these acts that other sailors did, “Melville decided he would do exactly the opposite of what Owen Chase and the other crew members of the Essex had done” (South 48).The Typee acknowledge their acts of cannibalism but they also accuse European and American countries of far worse crimes. 99 years after the publication of Typee the United States launched a nuclear attack on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The world did not become more civilized and Melville’s thoughts reigned true almost a full 100 years after. The Typee were actually shocked at the amount of destruction that a single gun could have when they said “and bang went the piece again, and down came another victim. At this the natives ran scampering through the groves, horror-struck at the enormity of the act” (Melville 256). The accusations on either side is Melville’s biggest push that perspective can change everything. Both the Typee and 1st world countries have each committed heinous acts but they still both look at themselves as the good guy. The same tunnel vision of a desired and fixed perspective happens in all wars, arguments, and court trials across the world all of the time. Melville wants people to share and trade perspectives so that they can see the entire picture and then make educated decisions that will be better for all. The sharing of perspectives also allows a little bit of humanity to be involved in so many decisions, it is a small addition that could be used in any