Roughing It · Chapter
LXXII explained
The narrator visits the ruined temple of the god Lono in Hawaii, recounting the story of Obookia, the native youth who inspired Christian missionaries, and the dramatic overthrow of the ancient tabu system under King Liholiho and Queen Kaah
What happens
The narrator visits the ruined temple of the god Lono in Hawaii, recounting the story of Obookia, the native youth who inspired Christian missionaries, and the dramatic overthrow of the ancient tabu system under King Liholiho and Queen Kaahumanu, aided by whiskey. The chapter describes the sacred grounds, the legend of Lono, the last battle for idolatry, and the arrival of Christianity.
Themes in this chapter
Colonialism and Cultural Change
The chapter details the abrupt end of Hawaiian idolatry and the introduction of Christianity, highlighting cultural transformation driven by internal rebellion and external missionary influence.
Humor and Exaggeration
The narrator's tall tales, such as a diver bringing up an anvil and swallowing it, and the whimsical description of the rain temple, exemplify Twain's humorous style.
The Absurdity of Pretension
Twain mocks the romanticized Sunday-school version of Obookia's story and the notion that whiskey aided civilization.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Visits the temple of Lono, observes native bathers, and recounts historical events.
- Liholiho
The new king who broke the tabu by eating with women, influenced by whiskey and Queen Kaahumanu.
- Kaahumanu
The Queen dowager who spurred Liholiho to break the tabu, hating its restrictions on women.
- Captain Cook
Mentioned as being mistaken for the god Lono by some natives, and killed when he groaned.
- Kamehameha
Mentioned as the deceased king whose son Liholiho succeeded him.
- Obookia
A native youth taken to New England, whose story inspired missionaries; he wept for his people lacking the Bible.
- William Kanui
One of the native youths who returned, later went to California for gold, lost money, and resumed preaching.
Key passages
“In an angry moment he slew his wife, a goddess named Kaikilani Aiii. Remorse of conscience drove him mad, and tradition presents us the singular spectacle of a god traveling 'on the shoulder;' for in his gnawing grief he wandered about from place to place boxing and wrestling with all whom he met.”
The god Lono killed his wife in a rage, then went mad with guilt, wandering and fighting everyone he encountered.
Twain recounts the myth of Lono with characteristic irony.
“Thus did King Liholiho and his dreadful whiskey preach the first sermon and prepare the way for the new gospel that was speeding southward over the waves of the Atlantic.”
Liholiho's drunken act of breaking the tabu inadvertently paved the way for Christian missionaries.
Twain humorously credits whiskey with advancing civilization.
“The tabu broken and destruction failing to follow the awful sacrilege, the people, with that childlike precipitancy which has always characterized them, jumped to the conclusion that their gods were a weak and wretched swindle...”
When no divine punishment followed the breaking of the tabu, the people quickly decided their gods were fraudulent.
Twain comments on the fickle nature of belief.