Historical Fiction
Typee / Herman Melville ; Illustrations by Mead Schaeffer
1951·326 pages
A young sailor deserts his ship and lives among the indigenous Typee people in the Marquesas Islands, experiencing their customs and contrasting them with Western society.
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A young sailor deserts his ship and lives among the indigenous Typee people in the Marquesas Islands, experiencing their customs and contrasting them with Western society.
About
Details
Based on Melville's actual experiences after having jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands, this work was extremely popular, and provoked disbelief among its readers until the events it described were corroborated by Melville's fellow castaway, Richard Greene. While the book is based on fact, Typee is properly considered a work of fiction: the three week stay on which the author based his story is extended to four months, and Melville drew extensively on contemporary accounts by Pacific explorers ...
What's Inside
will contain mild spoilers
Sexual content
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Sensual descriptions of a romantic relationship with native woman Fayaway; fade-to-black intimacy
Violence & gore
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Mentions of cannibalism, intertribal conflict, and physical confrontations
Profanity
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Mild 19th-century language with occasional strong oaths
Substance use
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Social consumption of kava and occasional alcohol references
LGBTQ+ Rep.
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No LGBTQ+ characters or themes present
Religious content
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Critiques of Christian missionaries and their impact on native cultures
Magic & witchcraft
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No fantasy magic or witchcraft present
Occult / demonology
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No occult, demonic, or ritual magic content present
Political content
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Central critique of colonialism, imperialism, and Western superiority
Self-harm / suicide
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No self-harm or suicide depicted
Abuse & suffering
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Depictions of captivity, forced tattooing threats, and cultural dislocation
Other
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No information found