Most of the chapters cover the arrivals of different peoples to the islands. the Kee family represents the viewpoint of Chinese-Hawaiians). The novel tells the history of Hawaiian Islands from the creation of the isles to the time they became an American state through the viewpoints of selected characters who represent their ethnic and cultural groups in the story (e.g. Chinn Ho, the 'Chinese Rockefeller', was popularly considered to be the inspiration for the character Hong Kong Kee. Asa Thurston was also a model for a missionary character in the novel. The character Reverend Abner Hale is a caricature of true-life missionary Hiram Bingham I. Several characters in the novel are inspired by actual individuals. A book cannot tell you how a Polynesian acts or how he talks.' Taylor said, 'The things you want are not in books.all this material you want has to come out of my head. Taylor, explained customs, language, family names, and nuances of Hawaiian culture to Michener. His technical adviser, noted Hawaiian scholar Clarice B. Each section explores the experiences of different groups of arrivals.įor Hawaiian history, Michener researched at the Hawaiian-Mission Historical Library and consulted experts on island history, volcanoes, botany, pineapples, and Chinese culture. The story begins with the formation of the islands themselves millions of years ago and ends in the mid-1950s. It is written in episodic format, like many of Michener's works, and narrates the stories of the original Hawaiians who sailed to the islands from Bora Bora, the early American missionaries and merchants, and the Chinese and Japanese immigrants who traveled to work and seek their fortunes in Hawaii. The historical correctness of the novel is high, although the narrative about the early Polynesian inhabitants is based more on folklore than anthropological and archaeological sources. It has been translated into 32 languages. Michener published in 1959, the year that Hawaii became the 50th U.S.

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Hawaii james michener summary