# XXI explained — Typee

> Chapter companion for Typee by Herman Melville.

## What happens

The narrator describes the medicinal spring of Arva Wai and its use by the Typees, particularly Old Marheyo. He then discovers ancient monumental stone terraces that remind him of Stonehenge, reflecting on their unknown origins and the impossibility of the present inhabitants having built them. Kory-Kory attributes the structures to the gods, but the narrator believes they are the work of an extinct race, prompting reflections on the island's great antiquity.

## Themes in this chapter

### Civilization vs. Nature

The ancient stone terraces, overgrown with vines and trees, represent a lost civilization reclaimed by nature, contrasting human artifice with the natural world.

### Cultural Relativism

The narrator questions the Typees' own understanding of the ruins, suggesting that their divine explanation reflects a different cultural perspective on history and creation.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

Describes the spring of Arva Wai and discovers ancient stone terraces, reflecting on their origins and the island's history.

### Marheyo

Frequently fetches water from the spring of Arva Wai, showing his fondness for it.

### Kory-Kory

Provides the narrator with a divine explanation for the ancient stone terraces, claiming they were built by the gods.

## Key lines

> As I gazed upon this monument, doubtless the work of an extinct and forgotten race, thus buried in the green nook of an island at the ends of the earth, the existence of which was yesterday unknown, a stronger feeling of awe came over me than if I had stood musing at the mighty base of the Pyramid of Cheops.

Looking at these ruins, which must have been built by a long-lost people, hidden in a remote corner of an island no one knew about until recently, I felt more awestruck than if I had been standing before the Great Pyramid of Egypt.

_The narrator expresses profound wonder at the ancient ruins, comparing them to one of the most famous monuments of the ancient world._

> Kory-Kory's prompt explanation and his attributing the work to a divine origin, at once convinced me that neither he nor the rest of his countrymen knew anything about them.

Kory-Kory's quick answer that the gods built the terraces made me realize that he and the other Typees had no real knowledge of their true history.

_The narrator dismisses the local explanation as ignorance, asserting his own belief in a lost race._

## Links

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