Character Analysis
Fayaway is a "beauteous nymph" (11.38), a member of Marheyo, Tinor, and Kory-Kory's household.
Tommo never tires of reminding us how beautiful Fayaway is. She's more beautiful than any woman he has ever seen; she's also playful and flirty and sticks by his side. She's a young Typee woman who sleeps beside him each night, and gains special dispensation from tribal taboo to ride in a boat with him—something no other female of the community may do.
Fayaway-As-Camp-GF vs. Fayaway-As-Island
Some readers of Typee may be willing to take it at face value that Fayaway and Tommo are in some kind of romantic relationship proper. Think: the girlfriend or boyfriend you had at camp, the one you never saw again after that summer.
But we wonder whether the character of Fayaway should be regarded as a proper character. She doesn't seem to do much on her own, or have any kind of free will. Sure, she is a beautiful creature, accompanying Tommo about the beautiful valley, but being as pretty as an island blossom seems to be her central role.
Just about the only time she demonstrates selfhood is when she lets it slip that Toby has left, but has promised to return, despite everyone else in the valley resisting further explanation of his departure: "At last, yielding to my importunities, she overcame her scruples, and gave me to understand that Toby had gone away with the boats which had visited the bay" (14.22).
What do you think—is she the human equivalent of the Typee Valley, or a woman or her own right?