Typee · Chapter
Fishing Parties and Midnight Banquets explained
The narrator describes the Typee fishing parties, which occur four times a month during the full moon.
What happens
The narrator describes the Typee fishing parties, which occur four times a month during the full moon. The fish are caught with nets, brought to the Taboo Groves, and distributed impartially throughout the valley under strict taboo. One memorable midnight arrival features torchlit messengers and a communal feast. The narrator also details the native tapers made from armor nuts and recounts his initial horror at seeing Fayaway eat raw fish, though he eventually adapts to the custom.
Themes in this chapter
Cultural Relativism
The narrator contrasts Typee customs of eating raw fish with civilized habits, ultimately adopting the practice and quoting 'When at Rome do as the Romans do.'
Taboo and Social Order
The strict taboo on fish until distribution is completed ensures impartial sharing and maintains social order.
Gender Roles and Sexuality
Young girls hold the tapers during the midnight banquet, and Fayaway's ladylike consumption of raw fish is contrasted with the general habit.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
Observes and participates in the fishing distribution and midnight banquet; recounts his adaptation to eating raw fish.
- Kory-Kory
Awakens the narrator at midnight with the news 'pehee perni' (fish come).
- Marheyo
Receives his share of the fish and prepares a midnight banquet.
- Fayaway
Eats raw fish in a ladylike manner, shocking the narrator but eventually inspiring his conformity.
Key passages
“When at Rome do as the Romans do, I held to be so good a proverb, that being in Typee I made a point of doing as the Typees did.”
The narrator adopts the local customs, including eating raw fish, as a principle of cultural adaptation.
Illustrates the narrator's embrace of cultural relativism.
“The fish were under a strict Taboo, until the distribution was completed, which seemed to be effected in the most impartial manner.”
The fish were forbidden to be eaten until they were evenly distributed to everyone.
Highlights the role of taboo in ensuring fairness.