Food
In Typee, food is as central to the characters' lives as it is to our own. But while we may be posting pictures of our plates, for Tommo, Toby, and the Typee natives, a meal may demonstrate simple...
Water
The long, measured, dirge-like well of the Pacific came rolling along, with its surface broken by little tiny waves, sparkling in the sunshine. (2.3) Land vs. Water: The Great & On-Going Battle...
Cloth
In a culture where most daily habits are formed with thoughts of simplicity and ease, the making of the local cloth, called "tappa," seems to be one of the few things that requires sustained, focus...
Tattoos
Tattooing in Polynesian cultures, and in Typee in particular, has been well covered elsewhere, but we would be remiss not to put in our two cents of wondering. In Tommo's descriptions of the nat...
Animals
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...
Western Culture
As much as Tommo adores comparing people to animals, he goes ga-ga comparing island life to "civilized" life even more. Tinor is like any mother a Western reader might recognize, "a doting mother p...
The Body
As immediate as food and shelter, physical health is at the center of life in the wilderness. Tommo recognizes that most of the Typee are in superior physical condition: "not a single instance of n...