Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
Set in 1846
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narrative on Tommo’s perspective
Tone and Mood
Horrific, scary, optimistic, explorative
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Tommo
Major Conflict
There is a conflict between the narrator, Tommo, and the Dolly Ship’s management. Tommo and his friend Toby escape to the wildness to wait for another ship to employ them.
Climax
The climax comes when the tribes in the valley warmly welcome Tommo and his friend after escaping from Nukuheva.
Foreshadowing
Tommo’s worries were foreshadowed by the possibility of him being eaten by the Typees.
Understatement
The Typee’s strategy in trapping people for feasting is underrated. For instance, they gave Tommo a luxurious life without knowing that his feasting day was on schedule.
Allusions
The story is fictionalized to allude to the ancient tales of cannibalism.
Imagery
The images of the delight of the island life precisely depict sight imagery to readers.
Paradox
The cannibalistic natives are paradoxical characters. The visiting Europeans think that the natives are welcoming and caring. Ironically, the natives are taking good care of the Europeans to fatten up before they eat them.
Parallelism
There is parallelism between the ambitions of the natives and Tommo’s ambitions to get a good life.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Typees are used as a metonymy for terror.
Personification
N/A
