Take a story's temperature by studying its tone. Is it hopeful? Cynical? Snarky? Playful?
Double Trouble
There's the neat trick of twinning here (mentioned also in our "Narrative Technique" section), where we experience a slice of the character-Tommo's adventure, filtered through narrator-Tommo's composition and perspective. It results in a sort of double-vocal narrator, switching between the attitudes of a bewildered adventurer and learned academic as the story unfolds.
Not only can he extol the beauty of the land and people, the ferocity of the warriors, and the pleasure of swimming in a clear lake, he can also make double-sure we believe him. He writes, "Let it not be supposed that I have overdrawn this picture. I have not done so" (27.13).
Judge Tommo
Because Typee is about 70% adventure story and 30% ethnographic text, and Melville was a (progressive) man of his time, there are moments when the text can seem a little…well, condescending. It can sometimes be a little tricky to tell which is which, whether Tommo is trying to compliment or evaluate, advocate or beat something down.
For example: during a long passage about the religion of the Typee, and whether Christian missionaries do more harm than good for native peoples, Tommo ends with this thought: "In truth, I regard the Typees as a back-slidden generation. They are sunk in religious sloth, and require a spiritual revival" (24.32). Oof! That's a severe judgment—no two ways about it.
But in its severity, we can see the distance between Tommo-as-captive and Tommo-telling-the-story-at-home. Would someone eating poee-poee and scoping out Fayaway—all while strategizing an escape—really have the energy or confidence to summon such a stern thought?