Roughing It · Chapter
Arrival in Honolulu explained
The narrator describes the first sight of the Hawaiian Islands, the approach to Honolulu, and the striking contrasts between the tropical landscape and San Francisco.
What happens
The narrator describes the first sight of the Hawaiian Islands, the approach to Honolulu, and the striking contrasts between the tropical landscape and San Francisco. He details the architecture, flora, fauna, and people, then recounts the discomforts of tropical life—scorpions, mosquitoes, tarantulas, centipedes—and the perils of eating tamarinds.
Themes in this chapter
Colonialism and Cultural Change
The narrator contrasts the native Hawaiian lifestyle (e.g., women riding astride, minimal clothing) with Western norms, highlighting the cultural collision and transformation.
Humor and Exaggeration
Twain uses hyperbolic descriptions of cats, the effects of tamarinds, and the torment from insects to comic effect.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Describes his arrival in Honolulu and his impressions of the island.
Key passages
“In place of roughs and rowdies staring and blackguarding on the corners, I saw long-haired, saddle-colored Sandwich Island maidens sitting on the ground in the shade of corner houses, gazing indolently at whatever or whoever happened along”
Instead of the aggressive street characters of San Francisco, Honolulu offered a peaceful scene of native women lounging and watching passersby.
Twain contrasts the rough urban environment of San Francisco with the calm, indolent atmosphere of Honolulu.
“I thought tamarinds were made to eat, but that was probably not the idea. I ate several, and it seemed to me that they were rather sour that year.”
Twain humorously notes that tamarinds are not meant to be eaten raw, as he learned from a painfully sour experience.
This is a classic Twain exaggeration about the perils of trying local foods.