# Fishing Parties and Midnight Banquets explained — Typee

> Chapter companion for Typee by Herman Melville.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

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