In a paper consisting of five pages the way the themes of savagery and civilization manifest themselves in the novel through the reactions of the protagonist are considered. Four sources are cited in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: JL5_JLTypee.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
"Civilisation and savagery in Typee" Research Compiled for Enterprises, Inc By , January 2013 To Use This Report Correctly,
Please
One
of the most interesting aspects of Melvilles Typee is the way in which the main character, Tommo, vacillates between his desire for civilisation and his desire for savagery, and is
happy with neither. The student could point out that Melville is looking not only at the way that these terms are defined but also at the way in which human
beings react to finding themselves in different cultures, and the difficulties they have in acclimatising themselves to a new order, even if they feel that the new culture is what
they genuinely want.
Melville sees civilisation as exemplified by whites, but this is a civilisation which, right at the start of the novel, he rejects. The student could note the symbolism of
the way in which Tommo arrives amongst the Typees - his journey through the dark, narrow gorge is reminiscent of the birth process, and when he arrives in the Eden-esque
valley at the other side, he feels as if he has been reborn. The constraints and restrictions which he has experienced during his time in civilised society, and on the