Typee Prejudice Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

'It is impossible that the inhabitants of such a lovely place as we saw can be anything else but good fellows.' (8.30)

Is all good times and lollipops, though? Can a positive prejudice do harm?

Quote #8

[...] savage, surrounded by all the luxurious provisions of nature, enjoyed an infinitely happier, though certainly a less intellectual existence than the self-complacent European. (17.5)

That's quite an assessment. Which values of Tommo's are in evidence here?

Quote #9

The fiend-like skill we display in the invention of all manner of death-dealing engines, the vindictiveness with which we carry on our wars, and the misery and desolation that follow in their train, are enough of themselves to distinguish the white civilized man as the most ferocious animal on the face of the earth. (17.9)

So what does it mean for a novel when the narration moves into this kind of rhetorical territory? How do you respond to this commentary as a reader?