Tommo

Character Analysis

Melville, er We Mean Tom

Tom, as he's called before the Typee give him his nickname, is Melville's narrator-avatar in this story of adventure-at-land. We don't know much about the young American sailor when the novel opens, except that he's been at sea for months and is bored out of his gourd, and possibly mistreated at the hands of unfair Captain Vangs.

We don't learn much more about him until he starts to play with others, and his character is revealed. For instance, as they make their escape through the mountains, Toby's athletic while Tom hobbles along. We learn he has an eye for the pretty ladies—going on for pages and pages about his companion-crush Fayaway—and that he doesn't completely buy the Western tradition of calling the islanders "savages."

What's in a Name

'Tommo', 'Tomma', 'Tommee', everything but plain 'Tom'. As he persisted in garnishing the word with an additional syllable, I compromised the matter with him at the word 'Tommo'; and by that name I went during the entire period of my stay in the valley. (10.27)

When Tom meets the king chief Mehevi for the first time, the chief finds it difficult to say his name, and so Tom turns to Tommo and his inclusion in the community begins. (Notably, no one has difficulty saying "Toby," and Toby leaves the valley during the first third of the book.)

Progressive for His Age

Have you met Tommo? He's a lusty open-minded free-thinker, with a classic American thirst for freedom and control. As a contemporary reader with an eye toward equality, it can feel downright relieving when Tommo holds forth on the unfair "savage" moniker, when he says "they whom we denominate 'savages' are made to deserve the title," (4.29) or how cannibalism isn't half as bad when you start thinking about the terrible torture any European government would exact upon its enemies.

But remember, Tommo is still a product of his time, and ultimately, he thinks of the Typee as devious and less-advanced. He calls the culture, the settlement, and its people "poor," (11.9) "peculiar," (21.6) and "strange, heathenish" (25.3). He may be judging less harshly than his contemporaries and the explorer texts he cites throughout, but he's still comparing the Typee's values to European and American systems.

Looking at the Eye of the Beholder

It's important to remember that Tommo's point of view is a very specific one, and that much of his own psychological drama and fears that build in his head are based on observation and what little he understands of the Typee language. He has a sharp eye, sure, but, just like all of us, his gaze is limited to the person he is, and the experiences he's had.