# II explained — Typee

> Chapter companion for Typee by Herman Melville.

## What happens

The narrator describes the languid voyage from the cruising grounds to the Marquesas, the sighting of Nukuheva, and the arrival in the bay where a French squadron is anchored. A drunken English pilot comes aboard, and the ship is surrounded by native canoes. The narrator observes the taboo excluding women from canoes, then witnesses a group of young Marquesan girls swimming out to the ship, boarding it, and engaging in lively, graceful dances that captivate the crew.

## Themes in this chapter

### Colonialism and Its Effects

The French squadron's presence in the bay symbolizes colonial intrusion, contrasting with the natural beauty of the island and the free-spirited native girls.

### Taboo and Social Order

The narrator learns about the taboo that prohibits women from using canoes, highlighting the strict social codes governing Marquesan life.

### Gender Roles and Sexuality

The swimming girls' bold, sensual behavior and their dances challenge Western notions of female modesty, while the taboo on canoes enforces a separate sphere for women.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

Describes the voyage, the arrival at Nukuheva, and his amazement at the swimming girls and the taboo.

### Captain

Bawls for his spyglass upon hearing 'Land ho!' and later refuses the drunken pilot's services.

### Rear Admiral Du Petit Thouars

Mentioned as the French commander who took possession of the Marquesas.

## Key lines

> I was somewhat astonished to perceive that among the number of natives that surrounded us, not a single female was to be seen. At that time I was ignorant of the fact that by the operation of the 'taboo,' the use of canoes in all parts of the island is rigorously prohibited to the entire sex, for whom it is death even to be seen entering one when hauled on shore.

The narrator is surprised that no women are among the natives in canoes, later learning that the taboo forbids women from using canoes under penalty of death.

_Introduces the concept of taboo and its strict enforcement regarding gender roles._

> As they drew nearer, and I watched the rising and sinking of their forms, and beheld the uplifted right arm bearing above the water the girdle of tappa, and their long dark hair trailing beside them as they swam, I almost fancied they could be nothing else than so many mermaids—and very like mermaids they behaved too.

The swimming girls appear to the narrator like mermaids, with their graceful movements and long hair trailing in the water.

_Highlights the narrator's romanticized and exoticized view of the Marquesan women._

> The varied dances of the Marquesan girls are beautiful in the extreme, but there is an abandoned voluptuousness in their character which I dare not attempt to describe.

The dances are exquisitely beautiful but also possess a sensual abandon that the narrator hesitates to detail.

_Reflects the tension between admiration and moral restraint in the narrator's perspective._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/typee_se/chapters/ii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/typee_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/typee_se/chapters