Typee was Melville's first novel and remained his most popular work until the late 1930's. It is a thrilling tale of adventure set in the primitive islands of the South Seas in the mid-nineteenth century and is based on the author's own experiences. In Typee he manages to combine anthropological observation, romance and travel with high adventure in a formula which was the foundation of his reputation as the pre-eminent American novelist of his period. There is also a deeper message in the book, as Melville holds up a mirror to Western civilisation. The image that is reflected is not always attractive or flattering.

Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life (1846) was Herman Melville"s first novel and while being an attractive work of fiction it is one based on his own experiences. It tells the tale of the hero, Tommo, and his friend, Toby, who, having jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands,wander into the valley of Typee, the home of a tribe of cannibals, the Typees, who are led by their chiefMehevi, and whose principal diet is the peace-loving tribe of Happars. They are captured by the Typees and treated with great kindness, but they are in reality prisoners in a five-star prison. Toby makes his escape in a vain attempt to summon help, while Tommo, who has sustained a leg wound, is obliged to remain with the tribe and be nursed back to health by the tender and beautiful blue-eyed Typee maiden, Fayaway. He becomes torn between this idyllic, sybaritic existence and escape, an avenue suggested by his roots in the "civilized" world and by a gnawing suspicion that he is being prepared for a cannibalistic gourmet feast, following the tribe"s insistence on his being tattooed. However, he knows that he will only be allowed one attempt at escape as his capture would mean certain death. The combination of adventure, acute anthropological observation, romance and travel so successfully begun in Typee was further developed by Melville in his other early and hugely popular novels - Omoo and Mardi. However, the seeds of the dark torment which was to make Melville"s later novels unpopular for over seventy years are present in Typee as the author holds up a mirror to Western civilization in the form of the innocent and yet violent,primitive and yet socially developed Eden of Typee. Typee remained Melville"s most popular work until the late 1930s.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Sequel Containing The Story of Toby