Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Wildlife is pretty scarce in the Typee valley, limited to some weird rat-dogs, a semi-domesticated cat or two, harmless lizards, and bothersome gnats. But the real presence of animals in this book lies purely in Tommo's habit of comparing the Typee (and other folks) to animals.
As Toby descends the crevice, Tommo observes that he drops "himself with the activity of a squirrel" (7.24). Elder Typee's skin flaps "like the overlapping plaits on the flank of a rhinoceros" (12.19). The female islanders are called mermaids, and later "amphibious young creatures," (18.3) while a worried Kory-Kory frets about like a "superannuated house-dog" (19.17). (Btw: "Superannuated" here means old-fashioned, out-dated, or obsolete. Ouch, huh? So there's your new word of the day. Want a few more? Here's twenty-five terms Melville had for a beard.)
We wonder how this narrative tic aligns with his ideas of the "savage" versus "the civilized." Can the way someone describes something—and the comparisons that are struck—reveal what an author wouldn't directly say?