The Distinction Between the ‘Civilized’ and the ‘Savage’
While discussing in class Herman Melville’s Typee, I began pondering how Melville distinguishes the “savage” from the “civilized”. We see Tommo’s character develop as he transitions from his suspicious belief of the natives as a cannibalistic culture to a more complex view of them as a peaceful society. Tommo notices that the Typees act with more honesty and fairness than Americans and while they do not seem to have a form of government, they also do not seem to have many disagreements or issues. As time progresses, Tommo, adopts some Typee practices including changing his form of attire and eating raw fish – a practice which initially disgusted him.
However, what creates the divide, for Tommo, among himself, a Westerner, and the Typee natives is their practice of cannibalism. Earlier in the story, Tommo hints that cannibalism, while it may be atrocious, is essentially, similar to European disemboweling. However, this comparison is made before Tommo sees firsthand a man half eaten. After that horrifying glimpse, Tommo comes to realize the true nature of his condition: “All that night I lay awake, revolving in my mind the fearful situation in which I was placed. The last horrid revelation had now been made, and the full sense of my condition rushed upon my mind with a force I had never before experienced.” And this realization is what creates a divide in Tommo’s mind between the civilized and the savage. In the time he spent with the Typees, he was blind to their cannibalism, but now that a body was staring back at him in half-eaten form, he realizes that as a civil being, he cannot come to terms with this practice, despite his adoption of previous benign practices.
I definitely agree that Tommo reaches a certain limit in his willingness or even ability to adopt the cultural practices of the native Typee. As Tommo realizes the near futile state of his situation, he begins to allow himself to engage in some of the native activities. Whether it be out of fear, acceptance, or simple curiosity, Tommo constantly finds himself questioning the societal practices of the place he once, and hopes to again, call home. Although Tommo is willing to immerse himself in the Typee culture, he can’t help but hesitate, and at times refuse, to engage in certain exercises. I’m curious to what extent the Western world influenced Tommo’s beliefs and why, after realizing that the Typee may not be as savage as they seem, he still responds so disgustedly to a number of their practices.
In addition, Tommo readily acknowledges the ease with which the Typee hold together their society. He juxtaposes how easily the Typee feed their families and find a way to support their culture with the difficulty Westerners face just earning enough money to provide for themselves. He appreciates the lack of money in Typee culture, the peacefulness in their everyday interactions, and the lack of bloodshed in the native forms of warfare. Over all, he never shies away from the idea that the Typee culture has its benefits that European and Western culture could borrow from, but he never goes far enough to imagine wanting to be a Typee himself. After all of these observations, I do not think Tommo could truthfully consider the Typee as a “savage” people; their tradition of cannibalism is the main thing that shocks him and scares him back into the mindset that he is far more “civilized” than the natives around him. When the option is offered up to him, despite all the positives he sees in their culture, he cannot commit himself to joining the Typees, but this does not stop him from acknowledging the positive aspects of their civilization.