If this story is about a man's quest for freedom, it isn't a story about freedom for everybody. Sure, the main narrative thread is how Tommo, imprisoned on a boat, escapes to find freedom, and ends up a prisoner all over again. In neither case, though, is Tommo your traditional chained-and-shackled cellie. Still, his freedoms are limited nonetheless.
Of course, Typee is also a swan song for the freedom of native peoples. With Melville's stern anti-missionary rhetoric, he warns that the culture he depicts will soon be no longer, and those like the Typee will be transposed into capitalist societies—with things like jobs and laws made by elected and royal governors.
As Tommo moves closer to freedom, though, it's worth considering: are the Typees moving further from it?
Questions About Freedom & Confinement
- Which is the greater prison: the ship or the valley?
- How do Tommo's personal decisions limit or expand his freedoms?
- What are the differences between the system of taboos and, say, the Western concept of borders?
- What personal freedom do you think you'd miss most, if you were held captive by someone like Captain Vangs or Mehevi?
Chew on This
By deciding to be a sailor, Tommo was choosing his own fate as an imprisoned man—functionally, if not literally.
Kory-Kory is just as much as a prisoner as Tommo, since he's told what to do and unable to have the same personal freedoms as others in the tribe.